For children there is still no solid scientific evidence on Covid vaccines, but US doctors are pushing to find a remedy as soon as possible. To echo him also the Italian Society of Pediatrics - Sip - which launches the appeal on social channels: “We need a safe, effective vaccine. We need a shield with which to defend our children from this terrible virus ".
The SIP highlights how Covid continues to affect the little ones in Italy too. In our country, 5,5% of cases (240.105) with 14 deaths concern the age group 0-9 years, while 10,0% (436.938) with 16 deaths concern the age group 10-19 years. .
In the US, the data is provided byAmerican Academy of Pediatrics: at the end of July, the cases of Covid 19 infection in the pediatric population almost doubled: 71,726 compared to 38,654 the previous week. The Delta variant is rampant and increasingly endangers the health of children, who now occupy 19% of the American weekly bulletin. Since the beginning of the pandemic in the US, 350 children have died of COVID 19.
The expert opinion Italian. On the opportunity to vaccinate the little ones, writes Ansa, various experts agreed, starting with the coordinator of the CTS Franco Locatelli. Also beneficial Massimo Galli, director of the infectious disease clinic of the Sacco hospital in Milan: “The vaccine for the under 12s is essential because, with the reopening of schools, its diffusion among children acts as an element of incoercible diffusion. In other words, without having vaccinated the entire population, including children, the possibility of containing the phenomenon becomes complicated. It will be necessary to see if the future holds, as it is likely to be, the need for a vaccine updated to the variants currently circulating ".
To corroborate the thesis a study published on Science Advances, according to which Covid-19 could become a predominantly pediatric disease in a few years. The researchers developed the model taking into account the trend of the epidemic in 11 countries with very different demographics, including Italy, by examining the resulting scenarios after 1, 10 and 20 years. "The infection has a clear trend, with the most severe effects increasing with age, explains Ottar Bjornstad, one of the authors. The results of our model suggest that the risk of infection in all likelihood it will move on to the younger ones, as the adult community becomes immune through vaccination or exposure to the virus. As is the case with other coronaviruses and the flu, once they become endemic, Biornstad says.