About 26,000 child COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States in the week ending Jan. 12, according to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association.

This is a decrease from the previous week, but likely an undercount that increased during the holidays and in 2023, according to the report.

Almost 15.3 million children in the country have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic. Over 140,000 of these cases have been added in the past four weeks.

Reported cases are likely a substantial undercount of COVID-19 cases among children. In addition, reductions or delays in data reporting increase during holiday periods, according to the report.

There is a need to collect more age-specific data to assess the severity of illness related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects, said the report.

It is important to recognize there are immediate effects of the pandemic on children's health, but importantly we need to identify and address the long-lasting impacts on the physical, mental, and social well-being of this generation of children and youth, said the AAP.

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