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Health Symptoms of omicron: Muscle pain, fatigue and headache, but without loss of taste or smell
This Tuesday, the Basque Government has called on parents to vaccinate their minor children as soon as possible after warning that there
are
already
four minors admitted to Basque hospitals for Covid
, two of them in Intensive Care Units.
The number of
coronavirus
positives in
the pediatric age group is
increasing in virtually the entire world
.
Even before the Christmas holidays, the World Health Organization Office for Europe had already stated that
children ages 5 to 14
accounted for the highest rates of
Covid-19 infection
.
In Spain, the
incidence in children this Monday stood at 2,202.21 cases per 100,000 inhabitants
in the age group of those under 11 years of age.
An incidence rate that on December 10, before the start of childhood vaccination, was 547.22, being the age group with the most infections.
In the United States, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported nearly 199,000 children infected with Covid-19 in the week of December 23, the last for which data is available, a
50% increase
compared to figures from the beginning of the month. .
In addition, New York City is viewed with particular concern, where
pediatric hospital admissions have increased by 395%
since the week of Dec. 5.
Unlike Europe, where, according to the latest data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the Delta variant remains, perhaps for a short time, the predominant, omicron is prevalent in the US.
Possible explanations
Should we worry?
"
The incidence is increasing dramatically in these age groups because they are not covered by vaccines
. In fact, the Italian Higher Institute of Health report last week observed an increase in all age groups, but particularly in the population. The interesting thing is that there is an increase in the incidence also in the population between 16 and 19 years of age, which is added to the one under 12. How could this be explained?
Probably due to the lack of the third dose in the adolescent population
", says
Annamaria Staiano
, president of the Italian Society of Pediatrics and professor of Pediatrics at the Federico II University of Naples.
The contained danger of omicron
"As reported by various government agencies,
the impression is that omicron is much more contagious but with fortunately less severe clinical manifestations
. Even in pediatric age,
less affectation
is observed
in the lower respiratory tract
while the affectation is much greater in the tract. upper respiratory tract, therefore at the laryngeal level ", points out
Annamaria Staiano
.
"
Most children have a runny nose, laryngitis, sore throat and low fever
. However, sometimes these symptoms are also followed by
fever and severe cough
. In this case we can understand the parents' concern: unfortunately
we are seeing cases even children under 5 years of age and most of the hospitalizations refer to this age group
".
The symptoms
"It is also necessary to frame the family context. I have the example of a mother of two children, who called me recently. The husband, a soccer player, tested positive. Both children also two days later experienced symptoms of a cold. Then ,
one had a fever and the other had shortness of breath and a severe cough
, which required appropriate therapy. Clearly, the persistence and severity of symptoms should suggest a possible Covid infection. But we know very well that
many children are completely asymptomatic
. So we cannot accept the claim that Covid is not characterized by significant clinical manifestations in pediatric age, "says Staiano.
"We
must
also
remember that Covid can be followed by complications such as Mis-C, the multisystemic inflammatory syndrome
, but also by persistent Covid, which can manifest itself in pediatric age. Therefore, we must protect children from these consequences. That is why
it is important to vaccinate children: not to protect adults, not to achieve herd immunity but above all to protect children themselves
", responds the president of the IAPA.
Multisystemic inflammatory syndrome and persistent covid
"The
multisystemic inflammatory syndrome
that can be triggered by Sars-Cov-2 in children and has a mean age of presentation of 9 years. 45% of cases are diagnosed in the currently vaccinated age group (5-11 years) Therefore,
70% of children with Mis-C may require hospitalization in intensive care because serious clinical manifestations such as myocarditis or pericarditis may occur
. It is a multi-organ inflammation that, however, can also affect the brain, as well as to the heart and the respiratory system, "says the doctor.
For its part, "Persistent Covid can also follow a Sars-Cov-2 infection with mild symptoms. Therefore, within a few weeks the child may begin to
show weakness, breathing difficulties, lack of concentration, generalized pain
, but Above all, the child is usually apathetic. "
How we can improve the data
"Greater communication of the efficacy and safety of vaccines is needed
,
"
says
Annamaria Staiano
emphatically
.
"The concept that should be spread is that
vaccines are safe because they have very few side effects
. Millions of children are vaccinated day after day. We have seen that in the United States the vaccination campaign has reached almost 10 million children, with side effects minimum.
the drug regulatory agencies monitor the results of vaccination and to date there
are no reported significant increases in severe side effects
. the vaccine is safe and effective has been demonstrated by clinical studies that have authorized the extension of vaccines to these age groups.
Among children ages 5 to 11, the vaccine is approximately 91% effective
in preventing Sars-Cov-2 infections.
The scientific world must transmit precisely these evidences, in order
to make parents aware of the advantages of the vaccine for the protection of children and above all to make children return to a normal life ".
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
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