The month with the highest number of COVID-19 related deaths in 0 - 19 year-olds was January 2022 at 160.Nevertheless, in the pre-Delta period of the pandemic, COVID-19 still ranked as the ninth leading cause of death overall. Overall, deaths in children and young people were higher during the Delta and Omicron waves compared to previous waves (pre-July 2021), likely reflecting the higher numbers infected during these periods.COVID-19 death rates were highest in infants aged less than one year (4.3 per 100,000), second highest in those aged 15–19 years (1.8 per 100,000), and lowest in children aged 5 –9 years (0.4 per 100,000). Like many diseases, COVID-19 death rates followed a U-shaped pattern across this age-range.The leading cause of death (perinatal conditions) had an overall death rate of 12.7 per 100,000 COVID-19 ranked ahead of influenza and pneumonia, which together had a death rate of 0.6 per 100,000. COVID-19 was the underlying cause for 2% of deaths in children and young people (800 out of 43,000), with an overall death rate of 1.0 per 100,000 of the population aged 0–19.By age group, COVID-19 ranked seventh (infants), seventh (1–4 year olds), sixth (5–9 year olds), sixth (10–14 year olds), and fifth (15–19 year olds).Among children and young people aged 0 – 19 years in the US, COVID-19 ranked eighth among all causes of death fifth among all disease-related causes of death and first in deaths caused by infectious or respiratory diseases.The researchers investigated this using data from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention databases for the period 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2022. Until now, it had been unclear how the burden of deaths from COVID-19 compared with other leading causes of deaths in this age group. Image credit: Shutterstock.COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death for more than 940,000 people in the US, including over 1,300 deaths among children and young people aged 0–19 years. The study indicates that pharmaceutical and public health interventions remain important to protect children and young people against COVID-19.

Number of child covid deaths in us