When a baby gets sick, it's every parent's worst fear. A new report from a network covering 13 states describes how many infants under six months old are being hospitalized with COVID-19. These are the youngest babies, who can't yet get vaccinated and whose immune systems are still developing.
The report doesn't give us specific numbers or percentages. It doesn't tell us how sick these babies were, how long they stayed in the hospital, or what treatments they needed. We also don't know if they had other health conditions that might have made COVID-19 worse for them.
Because this is just a descriptive report, it can't tell us what's causing these hospitalizations or how to prevent them. It's more like a snapshot than a full story. It shows us this is happening, but we need more detailed research to understand the complete picture for these vulnerable infants.