Covid and Children’s Health, September 2021
This pandemic is taking its toll on families and our young people and we wish to offer our support to all our patients at this difficult time and also share some up to date health information.
Here is a link to an excellent video made by the Royal Children's Hospital which answers a lot of questions many parents currently have about Covid and children.
RCH Covid Vaccine for Children Video
Summary of Information:
Many parents are worried that the Delta Covid strain is infecting more children than the original Covid-19 strain. It is true that more children will be infected by the Delta strain as they are currently unvaccinated and the Delta strain is more easily transmitted, but for the majority of children who are infected with the Delta Covid-19 strain it will present as a mild illness.
Children over 12 are now eligible for Covid-19 vaccination and the video provides a good explanation of what an mRNA vaccine is, how it works and they also emphasise that scientists have been developing mRNA vaccines for 30 years to reassure parents that mRNA Covid vaccines are very safe and effective in children.
A research study just released from the UK looking at long Covid in children found that long Covid occurs much less frequently in children who had covid compared to its occurrence in adults, with only 4.4% of children having symptoms of 28 days or greater and less than 2% of the children studied had symptoms after 56 days.
(The Lancet, August 2021)
The best way to protect our children and particularly our young children under 12 years who are not yet eligible for vaccination is to vaccinate all the eligible members of their household and they appealed to all parents and guardians who had not yet done so, to get vaccinated.
Data from the research trials of Covid vaccination in children under 12 will be released in the next few months and ATAGI ( Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation ) will then review this and make recommendations accordingly.
VIDEO:
Covid and Children's Health RCH Covid Vaccine for Children Video
Article:
Illness duration and symptom profile in symptomatic UK school-aged children tested for SARS-CoV-2
Molteni, Erika et al.
The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(21)00198-X/fulltext