Covid, pediatricians: “Disease risks even in over 12”

“Even if the pediatric age group aged 12 and over is among those least affected by Sars-CoV-2, recent scientific evidence has shown in this age group the presence of serious kidney complications or multisystem complications, even beyond the well-coded “inflammatory syndrome” Mis-C, resulting from a paucisymptomatic or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, as is emerging for the adult. The opportunity to implement a universal vaccination offer will greatly help to reduce not only the circulation of the virus, but above all the risk of generating variants that are potentially more contagious or capable of reducing the effectiveness of the same vaccines in use “. For the pediatricians of the Italian Society of Pediatrics (Sip) the path is this and it is clear. And they reiterate it again today, in the wake of an appeal launched by US experts after the meeting, within the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Spread), of the advisory committee on immunization practices which re-evaluated the data in detail updated on post mRna myocarditis in young people. The invitation is also to vaccinate young people and children over 12. In the US, experts agreed that cases of myocarditis and pericarditis, following vaccination against Covid-19 among young people, are “an extremely rare side effect”. Even the SIP, reads the note issued by the Italian white coats, “a few days ago it released a document in favor of vaccinations in the pediatric and adolescent range, taking a clear position”, the experts highlight, recalling what was said on the risk-benefit ratio and on the importance of vaccination. (continued) The numbers examined by the US experts are 1,226 cases of myocarditis or pericarditis reported to the American surveillance system Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (Vaers) after the administration of approximately 300 million doses of mRna Covid-19 vaccines by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna. However, not all of them have been verified, it is specified. Cases were predominantly observed in male adolescents and young adults. They occur more after the second dose than the first and typically appear within a week of vaccination.The CDCs also looked at myocarditis / pericarditis reporting rate in relation to the number of doses administered: for every million second vaccine doses against Covid-19, about 67 cases have been reported in males aged 12-17, 56 cases in males aged 18-24 and 20 cases in males aged 25-29, according to Vaers data, including cases confirmed and unconfirmed. The rates for females were 9, 6, and 3 cases, respectively.