“Death from Covid in children is an extreme event, intensive care treatments are very rare, but Sars-Cov-2 can be very bad even for the little ones. “This is what Alberto Villani, head of pediatrics at the Bambino hospital explains in an interview with ‘La Repubblica’ Jesus of Rome and former president of Sip, the Italian Society of Pediatrics, talking about the death of a 10-year-old child from Covid which took place yesterday in Turin.
On the aggressiveness of Covid for the little ones, the expert highlights that “if we compare the cases of serious illness in adulthood with the cases in developmental age, the latter are considerably lower. We therefore have the duty to reassure families and at the same time explaining that it is not possible to originally predict the final outcome of the disease. And when the number of infected subjects expands dramatically, the risks increase “. In this sense, the contagiousness of the variant “is relevant. With the current number of infections, hospitalizations, resuscitation and deaths are also increasing. Here, for example, there are now 60 children hospitalized and 6 of them are in intensive care “.
“In the vast majority of cases – underlines Villani – children get away with very mild forms: fever, cough, cold. But breathing problems or Mis-C may occur, the multi-organ inflammatory syndrome typical of developmental age which, six to eight weeks after infection, leads to a situation so critical that two out of three cases require resuscitation due to cardiological and nervous system disorders. Then there are the myocarditis that frightened so much during the first vaccinations of adolescents and instead have serious consequences when they are triggered by the virus. And again the long Covid which affects 5-7% of those who have contracted the infection and after some time present asthenia, chronic fatigue, gastro-intestinal disorders, symptoms of neuro-psychiatric interest “.
And are there any contraindications in vaccination? “Beyond specific cases that must be evaluated from time to time, vaccination is not only recommended, but it is a real life-saving. Even if there is a percentage of possible reinfections after administration, the disease does not develop in severe form. Thanks to vaccination, for example, Mis-C syndrome in over 12 occurs more and more rarely. And children in intensive care, like adults, are the unvaccinated “.
Vaccines in the 5-11 age group are 29.1% for the first doses and 8.4% for the second. And many families are forced to postpone appointments due to quarantines. “Pediatric vaccination is encountering various contingency-related difficulties. The vaccine was only approved in mid-December and the epidemic period is not ideal for vaccinating. However, this must serve as a lesson for the future: we know that viruses manifest themselves in their severity. first of all among the elderly and adults, but vaccines must be conceived right away even for children who otherwise remain reservoirs of the virus like No Vax. Our appeal remains to vaccinate everyone “.
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