Why is it important that children and adolescents are vaccinated against COVID-19?

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Several specialized doctors from the British Hospital explain the importance of giving children the vaccine.

The British Hospital pediatricians recommend children and adolescents to be vaccinated against COVID 19, although they present no symptoms, they can be infected with the new variants of the virus just as adults, and pediatricians recommend the vaccine to avoid post-disease inflammatory syndrome and to be able to carry out their basic activities without interruptions during the school year.

In case of children between 5 and 11 years old, and adolescents between 12 and 17 years old, the vaccine against COVID 19 "is not required in Uruguay, but it´s a vaccine strongly recommended by all pediatricians," said Professor Catalina Pirez.

“We recommend it with great emphasis and that has a very solid explanation, based on information that comes from abroad and also on our own information,” specified the Academic Assistance Director of the British Hospital Pediatrics` Department.

She recalled that the available information led to recommend vaccination in children aged 5 to 11 years old, as it happens today “in more than 60 countries in the world. In most of the countries this same vaccine is supplied, the one that we have indicated,” she added.

The specialist confirmed that, nowadays with the variants "Delta and Ómicron which are variants that concern, children and adolescents have the same possibility of getting sick as an adult, something that didn’t happen before, for example in 2020, they got sick a lot less."

“They have a chance of getting infected. It is true that most infections don´t present symptoms or have few symptoms, but it is also true that there are children who have more severe illnesses, children who are hospitalized and even very exceptionally they can die, "said Pirez.

While not required, it is "highly recommended by pediatricians."

Another reason to strongly recommend vaccination, is that children and adolescents "can have a disease that is followed by infection, that is post-infectious, which is pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome or associated with COVID."

It´s a condition that happens “two to four weeks after having the disease, whether they have had symptoms or not, and it is an inflammatory disease which affects many parts of the body, the heart, lungs, kidneys, the skin”, described the pediatrician. Children and adolescents "can have fever, some have rashes, conjunctivitis, but above all there are heart problems."

The vaccination recommendation has to do with this syndrome, which is a “rare disease, but exclusive of this group of age and can be serious". The good news is that there is a treatment.

Children and adolescents can also suffer from what is called extended covid, "when symptoms such as cough, tiredness, fatigue, distraction and other symptoms can persist for 12 months or more."

Pirez explained that for science COVID is “a disease that is more preventable with vaccines. This disease is preventable and multisystem inflammatory syndrome can be prevented as well,” she stressed.

The second reason to recommend the vaccination is that "if they don´t get this disease, or others that prevent other vaccines, they will be able to keep on doing activities along the year which are basic and very important, such as playful activities, sports, recreation, get back in touch with their friends or being able to have their curricular educational activities without interruptions”.

Last and not least, “if they are vaccinated, they are added to the number of people who are vaccinated in our country and that works us a fence, or as the well-known herd effect. If there are many people who are vaccinated the virus will have little chance of staying or causing serious illnesses”, she stated.

Dr. Pirez emphasized that "the vaccine is safe" and she evaluated that around 40% of children between 5 and 11 years old and the 80% of adolescents have already been vaccinated. “We have given thousands of doses and we haven’t had frequent and serious adverse effects,” she encouraged.

 

 

 

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