Covid vaccines for children? Goals, questions and scenarios
Covid vaccines for children. What emerges from a study prepared by professors Andrea Praticò and Martino Ruggieri of the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine of the University of Catania and published in the last few days in the journal "Pediatric Research" of Nature.
Strengthen studies on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine against Covid-19 among the under 15s and, if successful, promote a worldwide vaccination campaign. This is what is hoped for a study entitled " Covid-19 vaccination for children: may be necessary for the full eradication of the disease " prepared by professors Andrea Praticò and Martino Ruggieri of the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine of the University of Catania and published in the days I read in the journal " Pediatric Research " of Nature .
"In recent months, the most significant contribution against the spread of Covid-19 has come from the extraordinary and effective vaccination campaign which, together with lockdown policies, physical distancing and other protection measures, has drastically reduced the rates of contagion and mortality – the study reads – however, this massive vaccination campaign has only recently involved children over the age of 12. This lack of attention for the youngest is motivated by the fact that childhood Covid-19 infection has a well-recognized benign and limited course, with low to moderate fever, flu-like and gastrointestinal manifestations ”.
"Despite everything, in a very limited portion of young patients, Covid-19 can be associated with a more serious condition, initially reported as Kawasaki-like disease and later recognized as a multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children," the study continues. This syndrome involves pediatric patients of all ages (average age 8-9 years, half of cases between 5 and 13 years) and, above all, in most of these cases it is not preceded or accompanied by pre-existing medical conditions. Half of these patients require intensive care treatment, with a mortality ranging from 0 to 4%. It is not yet clear why only some pediatric patients develop this serious condition, but nearly 3,500 cases have been reported in the United States as of May of this year ”.
"Since it was difficult to justify a Covid-19 vaccine in children for a disease that has mild consequences in most cases, also because children – the study argues – play a minimal role in the spread of the infection, so far they have been performed few studies on the efficacy and safety of vaccines against Covid-19 in children and a large vaccination campaign for this age group is still a long way off, the study continues ".
Only by demonstrating the usefulness and safety of messenger RNA vaccines in children between the ages of 12 and 15, according to the research, will it be possible to increase the number of people vaccinated and thus achieve herd immunity ”. To date, it is presumed that Sars-Cov-2 "will continue to spread, even with a lower incidence, limited to the unvaccinated (in particular children under the age of 12) and consequently some measures will probably still be necessary in the coming months for small children, how to keep physical distances and wear individual protection at school, as well as during sports and recreational activities in a closed environment, with problematic psychological and physical consequences ". "Governments and pharmaceutical authorities – concludes the study – should encourage studies to test the safety and efficacy of vaccination against Covid-19 in children, also considering that in many underdeveloped countries the percentage of the population under 15 is dramatically higher. high than in Western countries and that only a worldwide vaccination campaign can effectively contain the disease even limiting the possibility of developing new variants of Sars-Cov-2 ". If the vaccine proves safe and effective in children, "educational campaigns on the usefulness and safety of vaccination among children will need to be promoted in order to achieve optimal coverage of the population and prevent Covid-19 and possible cases of mortality among young people. related ".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/sicurezza-efficacia-vaccino-under-15-studio/ on Fri, 20 Aug 2021 05:07:41 +0000.