New Study Finds Higher COVID Hospitalization Rates Among Black and Hispanic Children

A new study published in JAMA Network Open highlighted “higher COVID-19 hospitalization rates among Black and Hispanic children in the United States during the first 3 years of the pandemic.” CIDRAP has the news.

The study identified “13,555 pediatric COVID-19-associated hospitalizations from March 2020 to September 2023” across 12 states. All of the patients were 17 years or younger at the time of hospitalization.

Hospitalization rates were 2.15 times higher for Black children and 2.06 times higher for Hispanic children compared with Asian or Pacific Islander children. Black and Hispanic children also “had higher rates of [ICU] admission than Asian or Pacific Islander children. ICU admission was 1.88 times higher for Black children and 2.13 times higher for Hispanic children.”

Children four years and younger were the most frequently hospitalized group, “and racial disparities persisted when examining hospitalization rates among different age-groups. Among children aged 4 years or younger, cumulative hospitalization rates were 1.64 times greater for Black children and 1.74 times greater for Hispanic children compared with Asian or Pacific Islander children.”

Nearly “all vaccine-eligible children (95.2%) of all races and ethnicities hospitalized for COVID-19 in the study had not received the recommended vaccine.” They also said higher rates of asthma and chronic illness among Black children may play a role.