Israel is preparing for “a war” (and opens a Covid pediatric ward). The United States is seeing hospitalizations among the under 5s soaring. What is happening with the spread of Omicron among the little ones? And what can be done to protect those who cannot get vaccinated?
Sars-CoV-2 contagion, driven by the Omicron variant, travels fast among the under 18s, almost “spared” on the contrary in the early stages of the pandemic. From March 2020 to January 5, according to the Italian Society of Pediatrics (Sip) on the basis of data from the Higher Institute of Health, 268 under 19 were hospitalized in intensive care for Covid, compared to 263 hospitalized until December 28. In one week there were therefore 5 new entries. The highest numbers are recorded in the 16-19 age group and in those under 3 years of age. 68 people hospitalized in intensive care from the beginning of the pandemic to 5 January in the age group below 3 years of age; 24 in the 3-5 year range; 39 in the 6-11 range; 61 in the 12-15 age group and 76 among 16-19 year-olds.
The analysis on hospitalizations
Other worrying data come from an analysis by the Italian Pediatric Hospitals Association (Aopi), which has activated a weekly monitoring system for Covid patients – children and adolescents – hospitalized both in the medical area and in intensive care. Well, 76% of hospitalizations in the medical area between the ages of 5 and 18 concern unvaccinated patients. And 69% of children up to 4 years of age in the intensive area are children of unvaccinated adults. The analysis was carried out on 10 January in the 15 main Italian pediatric hospital centers. Among the parameters taken into consideration is the percentage of patients who received the vaccine. On 10 January, 212 children were hospitalized in all: 192 in the medical area and 20 in the intensive area. It is, explains Aopi, of numbers much higher than those of the previous waves of the pandemic and indicate that children are now more affected by the virus than in the past, although fortunately, in most cases, the symptoms remain mild.
Unvaccinated parents
Of the 212 children hospitalized, 134 are in the 0-4 age group, while 78 are between 5 and 18 years old. The vaccination variable weighs significantly on the severity of the infection: out of 13 very young people admitted to intensive or sub-intensive care, as many as 9 have unvaccinated parents. “These data push us to launch an appeal with conviction: it is important to vaccinate all children as soon as possible – explains Alberto Zanobini, president of Aopi -. And for those who are in an age group that still cannot access vaccination, it is important that parents protect them by getting vaccinated“.
Diabetes risk
Even pediatricians reiterate the importance of vaccination even for the little ones. “We cannot exclude severe manifestations of Covid even in children and it must be reiterated that the only effective protection is the vaccine – explained the president of the SIP, Annamaria Staiano -. At the moment the vaccine is the only real weapon we have at our disposal ».
Children should also be monitored once the infection has passed. According to the Association of Endocrinologists (Ame), children recovered from Covid have a higher risk of diabetes and a very recent report by the US CDC (Centers for disease control and prevention) confirms the association between Covid and the onset of type 1 diabetes in the youth population. «It remains to be verified whether it is a real increase in the disease or an early onset in predisposed subjects – explained Franco Grimaldi, president of Ame -. Only observation in the next few years will be able to give us answers in this sense ».
Vaccination campaign
Today, in Italy, in the 5-11 age group 20% received the first dose and 3% the second (the administrations started on 13 December). Higher numbers among 12-19 year olds, where over 75% received the second dose (and 8% also the booster). The number of healed in the last six months also gives the idea: 172 thousand children between 5 and 11 years, 100 thousand in the 12-19 age group (against, for example, 35 thousand in the 60-69 age group).
As explained to the Courier service Luciana Borio, former adviser to US President Joe Biden, referring to the situation in the United States (where Omicron is estimated to have reached 100% prevalence), “25 million children under the age of 5 are not vaccinated because the vaccine does not it is still approved for them. They are people we need to worry about. As long as we do not have vaccines for the youngest and effective medicines spread to treat those who, although they have tried to protect themselves, remain vulnerable, we cannot really return to normal ”.
In the United States, Borio added, there is a record number of hospitalizations of children under 5: «Fortunately, in most cases the treatments have had positive effects. For now, the best way to protect children in this age group is to have the adults around them get vaccinated. Vaccinated people can also transmit the virus, but the odds go down ».
New department in Israel
Also in Israel infections among children have reached alarming numbers, due to the Omicron variant, so much so that the Sheba Medical Center, the largest hospital in the country (based in Tel Aviv), has opened an ad hoc ward. The director, Moshe Ashkenazi, explained that we are preparing for a new wave of admissions for the little ones. «Omicron appears to be less virulent than other variants, but the greater chance of being infected will lead to several children being hospitalized – said al Times of Israel, comparing the current numbers to those of the first wave at the beginning of 2020 -. We have a sense of deja vu compared to the first wave e we are preparing for a war, just like we did in the first wave. Unfortunately, the infections are spreading so quickly that I expect this new department to fill up within 10-14 days, so we will have to open another one ».
January 14, 2022 (change January 14, 2022 | 08:29)
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