Omicron variant
\n JOHANNESBURG
\nThere had been a spike in hospitalisations among young children after the Omicron variant swept through South Africa, doctors said Friday. However, they stressed it was early to know if they were particularly susceptible.
\nIn the week since South Africa alerted the world of the new COVID-19 variant, infections have spread faster than in the country\u2019s three previous waves.
\nThe first cluster of cases centred around university students, and then spread quickly among young people who seem to have spread it to older people.
\nBut scientists and health officials said they had seen increasing hospital admissions in children under five, along with higher positivity rates among children aged 10-14.
\nWassila Jassat, from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, said: \u201cWe\u2019ve seen quite a sharp increase across all age groups, particularly in the under fives,\u201d referring to hospitalisations.
\n\u201cThe incidence in those under fives is now second-highest, and second only to the incidence in those over 60,\u201d she told a news conference.
\nScientists cited several possible reasons. One is that children under 12 are not yet eligible for vaccines in South Africa. Doctors have reported anecdotally that both children and parents testing positive have not been vaccinated, she said.
\nNICD\u2019s head of public health Michelle Groome said the virus was spreading faster than at any point in the pandemic in Gauteng, the province where Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria are located.
\n\u201cPreliminary data suggests Omicron is more transmissible and has some immune evasion,\u201d she said.
\nSouth African scientists on Thursday reported that the reinfections were three times as likely with Omicron, compared to the Delta or Beta strains.
\nAlthough generally patients are showing milder symptoms, Groome cautioned that the onset of serious illness would only be expected over the coming two weeks.
\nThe country recorded 11,535 new cases Thursday, mostly in the epicentre Gauteng.
\nThat is five times more than the reported cases just one week ago, when South African scientists alerted the world to the new variant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Omicron variant JOHANNESBURG There had been a spike in hospitalisations among young children after the Omicron variant swept through South Africa, doctors said Friday. However, they stressed it was early to know if they were particularly susceptible. In the week since South Africa alerted the world of the new COVID-19 variant, infections have spread faster […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230842,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1084,1258,1259,1257],"class_list":{"0":"post-230813","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-child","9":"tag-infections","10":"tag-omicron-variant","11":"tag-south-africa"},"yoast_head":"\n