MARIA: THERE IS A NEW STUDY THAT COMPARES COVID-19 TO OTHER VIRUSES THAT WERE DEADLY FOR HERE TO EXPLAIN IS DR. KRISTIN MOFFITT, AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST AT BOSTON CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL. GREAT TO SEE YOU AS ALWAYS, DOCTOR. ED: SO THE ONLY TIME MOST PARENTS HEAR ABOUT MEASLES, RUBELLA OR ROTAVIRUS IS IN THE PEDIATRICIAN’S OFFICE WHEN THEIR BABY IS GETTING VACCINATED. BUT BEFORE THOSE SHOTS BECAME AVAILABLE, WHAT WAS THE HEALTH THREAT TO KIDS? >> THE HEALTH THREAT TO KIDS WAS QUITE SIGNIFICANT FROM EACH OF THESE PATHOGENS AND A VARIED DEPENDING ON THE PATHOGEN. MEASLES, PRIOR TO VACCINES, WOULD CAUSE ABOUT HALF MILLION CASES OF EASELS EVERY YEAR. -- EASELS EVERY YEAR AND WOULD LEAD TO FOUR AND 500 DEATHS PER YEAR. RUBELLA COULD CAUSE A SIMILAR NUMBER OF CASES ANNUALLY BUT WAS UNIQUELY DEVASTATING TO INFANTS WHO WERE DELIVERED TO MOTHERS WHO EXPERIENCED THE RUBELLA INFECTION DURING PREGNANCY AND ROTAVIRUS IS ANOTHER COMMON CAUSES THAT PRIOR TO VACCINATION LED TO TENS OF THOUSANDS OF HOSPITALIZATIONS FOR DEHYDRATION IN CHILDREN AND WE KNOW THE VACCINES ARE ABOUT 90% EFFECTIVE AT PREVENTING ROTAVIRUS HOSPITALIZATIONS. SIGNIFICANT MORBIDITY AND FATALITY. MARIA: RESEARCHERS USED FEDERAL DATA TO COMPARE THOSE ILLNESSES TO COVID-19. WHAT DID THEY FIND? >> THE RESEARCHERS LOOKED AT DATA THAT WAS NATIONWIDE FROM HOSPITALIZATIONS FOR COVID-19 BETWEEN AUGUST 2021 AND JULY 2022. THEY FOUND THAT DURING THAT YEAR, THERE WERE 821 DEATHS DUE TO COVID-19 INFECTION IN PEOPLE AGED ZERO TO 19 YEARS. THAT ACTUALLY PUT COVID-19 AS THE EIGHTH HIGHEST CAUSE OF DEATH IN CHILDREN FOR THAT YEAR. ED: YOU JUST TOUCHED ON NUMBERS. YOU WENT UP TO AGE 19. AS YOU NOW, ABOUT 100 CHILDREN DIE FROM THE FLU EACH YEAR IN THE U.S. HOW DOES THE NUMBER COMPARE TO COVID AND WHAT IS A CHILD AGE WISE? >> CHILD IS DEFINED UNDER 18. ED: UNDER 18? >> YET WE TYPICALLY RIG IT DOWN LESS THAN ONE AND THE TODDLER AGE, SCHOOL AGE, AND TEENAGED. COVID MORTALITY WERE HIGHEST IN THOSE UNDER AGE ONE AND THOSE 15-19 YEARS OF AGE. HOW THAT COMPARES WITH INFLUENZA JUST IN GENERAL, EVEN IF WE LOOK AT OUR RELATIVELY RECENT INFLUENZA SEASONS SUCH AS THE 2009 IN 2010 THE PANDEMIC WHICH WAS PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS FOR CHILDREN THERE WERE JUST UNDER 300 DEATHS DUE TO INFLUENZA. SO THAT STILL PALES IN COMPARISON TO COVID-19. ED: THINK YOU VERY MUCH. MARIA: THANK YOU, DOCTOR. TO OUR VIEW I