“The incidence of infections in children is increasing dramatically, vaccines are not taking off and there is also an increase in hospitalizations and intensive care”. The alarm was raised by Professor Annamaria Staiano , president of the Italian Society of Pediatrics and full professor at the Federico II University of Naples.
The growth of infections occurs above all in the age group 5-11 years which represents approximately 30% of cases diagnosed in the entire population between 0-19 years, an age group not yet covered by vaccinations. An increase is also noted in the 16-19 age group, which according to experts underlines the need for vaccination.
The variantOmicron is much more contagious, “unfortunately we are seeing many cases even under the age of 5, most of the hospitalizations concern this age group. We cannot accept the claim that Covid is not characterized by severe clinical manifestations in the pediatric age. We must also remember that the disease can be followed by complications such as Mis-C, or Multi-Systemic Inflammatory Syndrome and Long Covid “, reiterates the president of the Italian Society of Pediatrics,” We must protect children from these consequences “. Symptoms
“There is a greater involvement of the upper respiratory tract,” notes the pediatrician. “Children mostly present with laryngitis, sore throat and low-grade fever. Sometimes even withhigh fever and severe cough “ . Complications, Mis-C: “It is the multi-systemic inflammatory syndrome that can be triggered by Sar-Cov-2 in children and has a median age of presentation at 9 years” explains Staiano. 70% of children with Mis-C may require hospitalization in intensive care due to severe clinical manifestations, such as myocarditis or pericarditis . These are multi-organ inflammations which, however, can also affect the brain , as well as the heart and obviously also the respiratory system “. The hospital network in difficulty
From September to today, the number of children who, due to Covid, are in hospital at the Bambino Gesu pediatric hospital in Rome, has tripled and the number of accesses to the emergency room has quadrupled, such high numbers had never been reached. “We are experiencing the worst moment since the beginning of the pandemic” says Andrea Campana , head of the Covid center, a department that has been saturated for several weeks, as well as intensive care. Almost all hospitalized children are unvaccinated, in most cases the children of unvaccinated parents
This is a particularly significant fact that demonstrates how important vaccination is not only for the highest segments of the population but also for the youngest. “Those who do not get vaccinated endanger their health and that of their children” underlines Campana and adds “in intensive care there are children of unvaccinated and positive mothers”. In the hospital, patients are getting smaller and smaller
“Until a few months ago, mainly adolescents were hospitalized due to heart complications. Suddenly younger and younger patients arrived, just a few months old ”, explains the head of the covid center in Palidoro. There are two reasons behind this collapse in age: on the one hand the lack of vaccination, on the other the particular contagiousness of Omicron also against newborns and infants “Whoever talks about Omicron as a cold is wrong, with regard to of younger children can be as aggressive as the other variants. ” Intensive care
Campana explains that the young patients “often have pneumonia, severe dyspnea and seizures that may require oxygen or ventilation. They wear helmets for assisted breathing in small heads. The management is not easy, also because they are alone “: in fact, access to parents is not allowed, whose closeness is fundamental in this age group. They are informed only by telephone, they have time slots in which they can call and, only after a negative swab, can they enter the hospital to look at their children through a glass. Diagnostic delay, a side effect of covid
Another worrying fact, underlines the head of the covid center of the Roman hospital, is the problem of diagnostic delays, or rather of “all those people who would need treatment and further study in the hospital but give up for fear of contagion”.
However, there is a positive fact, says Campana: “Compared to the previous waves of the pandemic, I can however say that we are witnessing an accelerated turnover : children are entering more numerous, but are discharged more quickly thanks to the better home management carried out in collaboration with family pediatricians and the greater timeliness and awareness we have achieved in the two years of the pandemic “. Long Covid in children
This is a symptomatology that can also follow a Sars-Cov-2 infection with mild symptoms, warns the president of the Italian Society of Pediatrics Annamaria Staiano . “After a few weeks, the child may begin to show weakness, respiratory distress, lack of concentration, widespread pain but also asthenia and apathy.” Vaccination goal still far away
“We are still a bit far away, vaccinations in the age group between 5 and 11 years are still slow. Certainly this figure needs to be increased and we hope that in the coming weeks we can reach a much higher targetalso because the start of the vaccination cycle in the age group 5-11 coincided with the interruption of school activities and the start of a holiday period for children. So I think that the lack of increased vaccinations can be attributed to the hesitation on the part of parents during the holiday period, despite the recommendations from the whole pediatric and scientific world ” Vaccines are safe“The vaccines are safe and the side effects are very few” underlines Annamaria Staiano. “Millions of children are vaccinated day after day. We have seen that in the United States the vaccination campaign has reached nearly 10 million children, with minimal side effects. Drug regulatory agencies monitor vaccination outcomes and no significant increases in severe side effects have been reported to date. That the vaccine is safe and effective has been shown by clinical studies that have authorized the extension of vaccinations to these age groups. Furthermore, among children aged 5 to 11, the vaccine is approximately 91% effective in preventing Sars-Cov-2 infections. The vaccine protects our childrenand allows them to return to a normal life after the two years of distance and social isolation, which have compromised their quality of life so much “.
