Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids says it currently has the most patients hospitalized with COVID-19 than ever before, and doctors believe the Omicron variant may be to blame.
As of right now, 30 pediatric patients are hospitalized, half of which are currently in the intensive care unit.
"It's alarming," said Dr. Andrea Hadley, MD, an internist and pediatrician with Spectrum Health, who believes this spike is due to the Omicron strain being dominant in Michigan and causing more significant infection in children.
Hadley tells 13 ON YOUR SIDE the hospital is seeing patients of a wide age range from newborn babies who were exposed at birth to kids and teenagers.
Many of those hospitalized are under the age of 5 and not yet able to be vaccinated, while some are eligible for vaccination and have not received it.
About 25% of kids between the ages of 5-11 years old have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, according to data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services vaccine dashboard.
More than 46% of teenagers between the ages of 12-15 years old have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine.
While some cases are moderate, half the patients are in the ICU and are needing to be intubated and treated for severe breathing problems.
"We're seeing significant burden of disease, so these patients are sick, they're very irritable, febrile, have pneumonia and low oxygen levels needing oxygen and as I said, all the way up to needing ventilators for breathing support and full life support," she said.
Hadley is urging parents to get their children vaccinated.
"Vaccination prevents hospitalization, vaccination prevents severe disease and that is true in both pediatrics and adults," Hadley said.
For kids who cannot be vaccinated yet, Hadley is encouraging their parents to be vaccinated to prevent the spread of this disease.
"They (kids) need us to get the adults in their lives vaccinated so that they can prevent the kids who are not eligible for vaccination, we can we can surround them with that level of protection because they are vulnerable to this disease," she said.
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