Hospitalization Rates and Characteristics of Children Aged &lt;18 Years Hospitalized with Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19 — COVID-NET, 14 States, March 1–July 25, 2020
Authors: Lindsay Kim, Michael Whitaker, Alissa O’Halloran, Anita Kambhampati, Shua J. Chai, Arthur Reingold, Isaac Armistead, Breanna Kawasaki, James Meek, Kimberly Yousey-Hindes, Evan J. Anderson, Kyle P. Openo, Andy Weigel, Patricia Ryan, Maya L. Monroe, Kimberly Fox, Sue Kim, Ruth Lynfield, Erica Bye, Sarah Shrum Davis, Chad Smelser, Grant Barney, Nancy L. Spina, Nancy M. Bennett, Christina B. Felsen, Laurie M. Billing, Jessica Shiltz, Melissa Sutton, Nicole West, H. Keipp Talbot, William Schaffner, Ilene Risk, Andrea Price, Lynnette Brammer, Alicia M. Fry, Aron J. Hall, Gayle E. Langley, Shikha Garg, Ashley Coates, Pam Daily Kirley, Tanya Libby, Jeremy Roland, Nisha Alden, Rachel Herlihy, Sarah McLafferty, Paula Clogher, Hazal Kayalioglu, Amber Maslar, Adam Misiorski, Linda Niccolai, Danyel Olson, Christina Parisi, Emily Fawcett, Siyeh Gretzinger, Katelyn Lengacher, Jeremiah Williams, David Blythe, Alicia Brooks, Rachel Park, Michelle Wilson, Kathryn Como-Sabetti, Richard Danila, Cory Cline, Kathy Angeles, Nancy Eisenberg, Kristina Flores, Caroline Habrun, Emily Hancock, Sarah Khanlian, Meaghan Novi, Erin Phipps, Yadira Salazar-Sanchez, Elizabeth Dufort, Alison Muse, Sophrena Bushey, Maria Gaitan, RaeAnne Kurtz, Ama Owusu-Dommey, Lindsey Snyder, Katherine Michaelis, Kylie Seeley, Tiffanie Markus, Ryan Chatelain, Andrea George, Mary Hill, Laine McCullough, Melanie Spencer, Ashley Swain, Keegan McCaffrey, Rachel Holstein, Seth Meador, Jonathan Wortham
Journal: MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (2020)

COVID-NET conducts population-based surveillance for laboratory-confirmed COVID-19-associated hospitalizations in 99 counties † in 14 states (California, Connecticut, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, and Utah), representing all 10 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regions (2,3).Laboratory-confirmed COVID-19associated hospitalizations among residents in a predefined surveillance catchment area who had a positive SARS-CoV-2 molecular test during hospitalization or up to 14 days before admission are included in surveillance.SARS-CoV-2 tests are ordered at the discretion of the treating health care provider.Trained surveillance officers perform medical chart abstractions for all identified cases.Patients aged <18 years hospitalized with COVID-19 during March 1-July 25, 2020, were included in this analysis.Weekly and cumulative COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates were calculated using the number of catchment area residents hospitalized with COVID-19 as the numerator and the National Center for Health Statistics vintage 2019 bridged-race postcensal population estimates as the denominator.§ Descriptive analyses were conducted using all Please Note: This report has been corrected.The definition of pediatric obesity was incorrectly stated in the text of the report and in the Table footnote; however, the analysis was correct and used the CDC definition of pediatric obesity for children aged ≥2 years (body mass index [kg/m2] ≥95th percentile for age and sex based on CDC growth charts).US Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Abbreviation: COVID-NET = Coronavirus Disease 2019-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network.* Number of children in each age group hospitalized with COVID-19 per 100,000 population.† Figure B shows the 3-week moving average of weekly hospitalization rates for children in each age group hospitalized with COVID-19 per 100,000 population.A trend test was conducted using weighted linear regression, where the weight for each MMWR week was the inverse of the variance.Trend test overall (<18 years): p-value <0.001.