![]() ![]() Obviously, a typical 5-year-old will be much smaller than a typical 11-year-old, which raises the question as to whether all children in that age range will be adequately protected. I’m confident they’ll have the same protection,” he said. At age 11, children will develop as good an antibody response or protection, protected level of neutralizing antibodies in the blood, from 10 micrograms of vaccine as they do from 30 micrograms. Susanna Naggie, as she gets the second of two Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccinations during a clinical trial for children at Duke Health. If a parent has an 11-year-old and is considering waiting until they turn 12 to be given the larger dose – don’t, Walter advised.Īlejandra Gerardo, 9, is held by her mom, Dr. Results showed children ages 5 to 11 produced similar levels of protection as the larger doses provided to older children and adults. Levels of antibody protection in the younger children were then compared to levels seen in older children and adults up to age 30. However, unlike larger adult trials, which track immunity and infections, the study only analyzed children’s immune response. In the study, children received doses of vaccine three weeks apart, just as with adults, Walter said. ![]() However, the rare cases of myocarditis seen in younger men after vaccine is “generally fairly mild … and it’s usually very easily treated once it’s recognized.” “In fact, you can develop myocarditis after developing Covid-19 as a complication, and the myocarditis from Covid is usually quite severe and makes people quite ill and causes a prolonged hospitalization.” “I think it’s really important to recognize that not all myocarditis is the same,” he added. The rate of myocarditis in that particular group is “about 40 (cases) per million second doses of Covid-19 vaccine received,” he added. The risk for developing myocarditis is more commonly seen in men, particularly young men between the ages of 16 to 30, and typically after the administration of the second dose, Walter said. So it was examined for quite closely in the trial, and there were no cases,” he said. “If a child complained of any pain, chest pain, or shortness of breath, families were immediately called and children were evaluated. There were no cases of myocarditis in the children’s trial, Walter stressed, despite a careful evaluation of every possible symptom. Researchers do not know if younger children are at risk for myocarditis, but the study was careful to track any responses that might be warning signs. ![]() One safety concern has been the risk of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle and pericarditis, the inflammation around the heart, which has appeared occasionally in younger adults who received the vaccine. “Those things can be managed pretty easily with ibuprofen.” ![]() “They may get a fever, they may feel a little achy, not feel as good the next day following vaccination, and that’s to be expected,” Walter said. He encouraged parents to prepare their children for an achy day after the shot. What will a Covid-19 vaccine for younger kids mean? An expert weighs in Kids and corona virus protection simple concept, no face visible Shutterstock Small child holding taken off anti viral mask. Little girl holding a medical protective face mask in hands, closeup. The adult dose should not be used for children,” he said. It will be labeled that it will be just for children. This one will have an orange cap on the vial. “The current vaccine has a purple cap in the vial. Manufacturers have taken precautions to eliminate mistakes in identifying adult and child vaccines, Walter said. “Usually the symptoms were pretty mild in most cases … and they resolved within a day or two.” “Parents were given a diary to report symptoms on a daily basis for seven days after children received each dose of vaccine,” Walter said. Side effects of the vaccine in the children were carefully monitored, Walter said. “A study of 3,000 children getting the vaccine is actually a pretty good group if you’re looking for fairly common side effects,” Walter said. That dosage was then administered in a larger trial of 4,500 children, of whom 3,000 were given the vaccine and 1,500 received a placebo. The study determined that one-third of the adult dose, or 10 micrograms, produced an adequate immune response that was “best tolerated for children of that age, with the fewest side effects like fever, aches and chills and things like that,” Walter said. The clinical trial, which began in March, first investigated various reduced dosages of the Pfzier-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11. Bridgette Melo, 5, holds onto her dad, Jim Melo, as she gets the first of two Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccinations during a kids' clinical trial at Duke Health, September 28. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |