What Parents Need to Know about the Delta Variant

CLEVELAND – As the Delta variant continues to spread, some parents may be worried about how it can impact their child.

“It does not appear, so far, that the Delta strain is causing more severe illness in children,” said Camille Sabella, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist with Cleveland Clinic Children’s. “We certainly need to keep a close watch on that to be sure that’s the case.”

Dr. Sabella said data on the Delta variant is still being collected, so it’s hard to say how many children have been infected.

He adds, children don’t always show symptoms and when they do, they are typically mild.

With that being said, parents need to make sure they are following all the same safety measures as before, like wearing a mask and social distancing.

They should also get their child vaccinated if they are old enough. And parents should get vaccinated too.

Dr. Sabella said your child could unknowingly contract COVID-19 and risk getting you sick, so it’s better to be protected.

“The best way to keep this virus in check and really under control and not have it interfere with your everyday life, whether it’s school, after school activities, whether it’s summer camp, whether it’s sports – the best way to prevent the chaos that comes with this virus is to vaccinate as much as we can,” said Dr. Sabella.

Dr. Sabella said the vaccine can also help stop the virus from mutating, which is how the Delta variant came to be in the first place.