PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The American Academy of Pediatrics is reporting that they have seen the largest increase of COVID-19 cases this week among children since the beginning of the pandemic.
On Wednesday, Channel 3 reported on a 15-year-old from Pensacola who died from COVID complications.
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According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 252,000 children contracted COVID-19 last week.
Doctor Teresa Mahaffey, a pediatrician in Pace, said that she has seen COVID in kids more mild than in adults.
Dr. Mahaffey sees patients under the age of 18 and tells Channel 3 that many of her patients have tested positive for COVID.
She says the first variant of COVID -- or the alpha variant -- was mild in children. But with the delta variant, she says it is more contagious in both kids and adults.
Dr. Mahaffey says many of her patients come in with different symptoms, but often they are milder and less lethal compared to the cases they see in adults.
"Some of them present with a stuffy nose and a cough or sinus pressure," Dr. Mahaffey said. "With this delta variant, I have seen higher fevers like 103 or 104."
Escambia County hospitals reported seven pediatric COVID cases as of Thursday.
Ascension Scared Heart said five of those cases are being treated at the Studer Children's Hospital.
The CDC reported more than 51% of the population in Escambia County are partially vaccinated and 45.5% are fully vaccinated.
"Kids are definitely our spreaders, they can't help it. They throw stuff in each other's faces, they pick stuff up off the ground," Dr. Mahaffey said. "They're around tons of other kids and they're in daycare and they're bound to get it."
The American Academy of Pediatrics says serious cases in children can happen, but it's rare.
"Is their a scientific reason why that's the case? No one knows. And if anyone tells you they know, they don't know what they're talking about," Dr. Mahaffey said. "We don't know a lot about this virus. I have a feeling it's going to come down to genetics and how the virus interacts with each individual's genetics because it's so different in a lot of people."
After looking at the data, Dr. Mahaffey says whether or not cases in children will significantly increase will depend on how long the delta variant sticks around.