A recent study from Pfizer showed that the company’s COVID-19 vaccine was effective in protecting children under the age of five, but pediatricians warn parents to vaccinate their youngest children. I’m having a hard time convincing you.
There has been a steady rise in hospital admissions for this age group in the summer, and health experts fear this trend will continue as children return to schools and day care facilities.
Dr. Kathryn Moffett, director of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Division at West Virginia University Medical and Children’s Hospital, said: “There is an estimated child dying from COVID every day in the United States.”
Immunizations for babies, infants and preschoolers started in June after months of delay. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only about 3.4% of children under the age of 2 and her 5.7% of children aged 2 to 4 have received at least one vaccination of hers. .
On the other hand, the number of hospitalizations for children under the age of 4 has increased since spring. About 20 children were hospitalized a week in April, and about 100 a week in July, according to CDC data.
hospitalization Infants and toddlers outnumber children aged 5 to 17 and teenagers. About 50 patients were hospitalized each week in July, according to the CDC.
“Fever, dehydration and difficulty breathing are the main reasons very young children and babies are hospitalized with COVID,” Moffett said. “These are preventable infections.”
Pfizer announced Tuesday that its COVID-19 vaccine is 73% effective in protecting children under the age of five.
The company’s study analyzed COVID-19 diagnoses from March through June in Pfizer’s ongoing three-dose vaccine study. Twenty-one of the 351 infants who received a dummy shot had COVID-19 cases compared to 13 of the 794 who received three doses of the vaccine.
The child case was mainly due to the BA.2 omicron version that came out in the spring. Today, another Omicron relative, her BA.5, is responsible for nearly 90% of her COVID-19 cases in the United States and many parts of the world, according to the CDC. Pfizer said in a press release on Tuesday that efficacy data for the latest dominant strain is still inconclusive.
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Pfizer data should be encouraging, but health experts say parents are still hesitant to vaccinate Their youngest children against COVID-19.
Dr. Daniel Blatt, an infectious disease specialist at Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, said: “There is a perception among some parents of young children that COVID will always be mild and vaccines are untested, but neither belief is true.”
Many parents believe that a recent infection will protect their children from another bout of COVID-19, but that’s not always the case, health experts say. Studies show that getting vaccinated after recovering from the virus offers additional protection.
Misinformation still plays a role in people’s hesitation, said Dr. Mark Mestre, chief medical officer of the Nicklaus Children’s Health System in Miami.
“When I read online, there are always stories of something happening by accident after getting the vaccine, and it’s hard to get over it.
Although hospitalization rates in children may not be as high as in adults, parents should vaccinate their children to reduce the risk of post-infectious conditions such as multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) and long-term COVID. should be considered, health experts say.
Moffett of West Virginia says more children are coming to lengthy COVID clinics at hospitals because of lingering fevers, coughs, fatigue, joint and body aches.
“Children who have COVID and are not hospitalized may still have these conditions,” she said. “There is clear evidence that vaccinated people have a much lower risk of developing long-distance (symptoms) after developing COVID.”
Vaccination of young children prevents infection and transmission. Experts worry that when students return to school, they will carry the virus home and infect vulnerable family members.
Approximately 400 COVID-19 deaths continue to be reported daily in the United States, mostly among the elderly and immunocompromised patients. CDC hospitalization data also shows that about 1,500 Americans over the age of 65 are hospitalized with her COVID-19 each week.
“Historically, most sick children have been carriers of disease transmission. That’s the nature of children,” Bratt said. “And COVID is no exception.”
If parents are still hesitant, health experts recommend talking to a trusted pediatrician or primary care physician about the risks and benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine and other childhood immunizations.
“It’s helpful to talk about this as part of a recommended healthy lifestyle protocol that reduces the risk of adverse outcomes for children,” Bratt said.
Contributed by Associated Press. Follow Adrianna Rodriguez on her Twitter: @AdriannaUSAT.
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