MANILA, Philippines — The recent COVID-19 infections among children, as well as deaths, can be attributed to the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant, an expert said Monday.
Dr. Rontgene Solante, an infectious disease expert and a member of the country’s vaccine expert panel, said that with the variant’s higher transmissibility, there’s no longer an “exception” when it comes to infection, even in children.
“Yes, precisely,” Solante said when asked if the infections and deaths of children in the country can be attributed to the Delta variant.
“When you have a virus that is highly transmissible when you have 50 times more transmissibility than the original strain, then there’s no exception with that, even children who are exposed to adults,” he added when asked about the number of children getting infected globally.
He added that children who are less than one year old are likewise at a higher risk of developing a more severe form of COVID-19 since their immune response is not yet developed.
So far, the Philippines has detected a total of 809 Delta variant cases.