America’s children are facing an unprecedented “tripledemic” of RSV, the flu and still-prevalent Covid-19, while new threats like Strep A loom. Years of necessary Covid precautions have reduced exposure to illness in early life and in utero, leaving young children at risk of more frequent and more serious illnesses due to their unprepared immune systems. Pediatric health leaders are calling for a national emergency response as children’s hospitals across the country run out of beds.
Yet instead of summoning every tool at our disposal to keep kids safe, we are fighting infection with our hands tied behind our backs because far too many in this country do not have paid sick time. Parents without paid sick days are nearly twice as likely to send a sick child to school or child care — the inevitable result of the impossible choice between caring for their children and providing for them.
The above excerpt was originally published in NBC News THINK.
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