Los Angeles, Sep 16 (IANS): More than 14.6 million children in the US have tested positive for Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association.

More than 340,000 of these cases have been added in the past four weeks. Nearly 6.7 million reported cases have been added in 2022, according to the report.

For the week ending September 8, nearly 83,300 child Covid-19 cases were reported, but the reported cases are likely a "substantial undercount" of Covid-19 cases, according to the report.

There is an urgent need to collect more age-specific data to assess the severity of illness related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects, said the AAP as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

"It is important to recognise there are immediate effects of the pandemic on children's health, but importantly we need to identify and address the long-lasting impact on the physical, mental, and social well-being of this generation of children and youth," the AAP added.