A long winter virus season is finally coming to a close, but there is still reason to frequently wash your hands and get all of your latest vaccines.
A highly mutated COVID-19 variant, BA.3.2 ― nicknamed Cicada ― is spreading in at least half the country and appears to be infecting kids at higher rates than other variants. (Before you panic: the new variant is not causing more severe disease.)
“The reports do seem to indicate that this variant is more prevalent in children, as opposed to older populations,” said Dr. Neil Maniar, a professor in public health at Northeastern University in Boston.
“There are probably a couple of reasons why it is more prevalent among kids,” Maniar said. First, it’s highly mutated from previous variants, which means it’s more infectious. Kids are also often in environments that make the virus spread easily (such as daycare, school, and camps), which, when combined with the fact that it’s more infectious, may also help explain why this variant is showing up more in children, Maniar explained.
According to Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine in the department of health policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, this variant’s prevalence in kids isn’t totally unexpected.
“The rest of us have at least some partial immunity, because we’ve had so much experience with COVID itself or with the vaccine, whereas young children are less experienced with COVID,” Schaffner said.
Young kids may have contracted COVID less than adults, and just 9.3% of kids have received the 2025-2026 COVID shot, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control.
“I think it’s possible that this new variant is finding them more susceptible and so able to spread among children,” Schaffner said.
“This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen a variant that is more prevalent in children,” Maniar said. “We had a variant a few years back that was similar, and that may be partly because [kids’] immune systems are still developing. Kids don’t have the same immune memory that older adults do because they just haven’t been exposed over a period of time to as many different pathogens.”
COVID rates are low overall right now.
Once again, this variant does not cause more severe illness than any previous variants, stressed Dr. Steven Goldberg, a primary care and urgent care doctor and chief medical officer at HealthTrack, a testing laboratory for infectious diseases.
On top of that, COVID rates are low throughout the country, Goldberg added. And the number of infections caused by this specific Cicada variant is even lower. While there is data indicating that BA.3.2 more easily infects kids, this hasn’t been proven in peer-reviewed publications yet. “So, we look forward to them coming out,” Goldberg said.
The variant’s ability to infect kids (specifically those ages 3 to 15) was discovered by Dr. Tulio de Oliveira, a South African doctor, according to CNN. Using COVID data from New York, COVID variant researcher Ryan Hisner also found that BA.3.2 is more likely to infect kids, CNN reported. Hisner also noticed this pattern in COVID infections in children in Ireland and Ontario.
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Between vaccination and hand washing, there are many ways to protect your kids from COVID this spring.
If your kids develop any COVID symptoms (such as runny nose, fever, cough, congestion, body aches), contact their health care provider. This is especially important if your child has underlying medical conditions, Schaffner noted.
If your child has symptoms (or you do), it’s also a good idea to take a COVID test and a flu test so you (and your doctor) can determine the best treatment.
“The flu is still out there,” Maniar added.
Normal virus-prevention strategies are also recommended. “If your child is not feeling well, don’t send them to school,” Maniar said.
If they’re old enough, make sure they also know the importance of frequent handwashing, which is an effective way to keep COVID-19 and other illnesses away.
“If your child is going to a birthday party or play date, check to make sure that everybody else is in good health before you send them,” Schaffner added.
Vaccination can provide protection from severe disease, but “probably the level of protection is going to be lower,” according to Schaffner, since BA.3.2 is not one of the variants that this vaccine targets.
But your COVID shot does still protect you.
“I think it’s also important for everyone to know that this is not the only variant that is out there,” Maniar explained. “The COVID vaccine is actually effective against other variants of COVID, and, importantly, it’s really helpful in terms of reducing the risk for morbidity and mortality from COVID.”
“COVID is going to be a part of our background lives, I think, for the foreseeable future,” added Maniar, much like other illnesses like the flu.
While you don’t need to be particularly worried about this variant, it’s always a good idea to take precautions to protect yourself from illnesses.
“But especially COVID, flu and other illnesses that we have vaccines for, that we have ways to reduce the risk for exposure or to reduce the risk for illness if you are exposed,” Maniar said.