Adolescents as partners in the fight against COVID-19

Abstract

We report our experience of COVID-19 disease burden among patients aged 0–21 years at two tertiary care institutions in the Northeast and Midwest from New Jersey and Iowa. Our results showed that during the initial surge (March to August 2020) at both geographic locations, majority of COVID-19 disease burden occurred in adolescents and that they were more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-related illnesses, as well as develop severe disease needing intensive care. The study results emphasize the need for providing more targeted interventions toward this group to help prevent disease acquisition and transmission.