Should #children be vaccinated against #COVID19?

Our review outlines the points to consider in weighing up whether all healthy children under 12y should be vaccinated against COVID-19.

bit.ly/2ZYyPi0

#medpeds #IDTwitter #PaedsID #tweetiatrician #paediatrics

🧵1/n As specialists in paediatric #InfectiousDiseases and #Vaccinology, we recognise enormous benefits of and strongly support child vaccination programmes

@Dr_Petzi @PittetLaure @adamhfinn @ajpollard1 @nigeltwitt

@unifr @unige_en @BristolUni @OxfordVacGroup @MCRI_for_kids @UniMelb

#LongCOVID

We reviewed 14 studies of persisting symptoms following #COVID19 in #children & #adolescents

Most had major limitations and should be interpreted with caution.

True risk is likely to be nearer 1 in 100 than often quoted 1 in 7.

#medpeds #IDTwitter

(Long) 🧵1/n @Dr_Petzi @PittetLaure @MCRI_for_kids @RCHMelbourne @UniMelbMDHS @ASIDANZ @ESPIDsociety @ESPR_EBN @WSPID @PIDSociety @DFTBubbles @PIDJournal

#medpeds #IDTwitter #tweetiatrician #paediatrics #pediatrics #PaedsID #PedsID #PedID #PID

To reassure parents, a reminder of some key facts about #COVID in #children:
 
#SARSCoV2 infection remains asymptomatic or mild in the vast majority of children, even with the #DeltaVariant. Hospitalisation and deaths from COVID are still rare in this age group.

1/n 🧵 However, the greater transmissibility of the Delta variant means there is more COVID in *all* age groups, including children, so we will see more paediatric cases.

Any debate about use of rapid antigen tests for screening well asymptomatic individuals for #SARCoV2 needs to acknowledge:

PCR may be more sensitive than LFTs BUT:

1. PCR is costly so not feasible for frequent testing of well asymptomatic except in wealthiest of settings

1/5 2. Inevitable delay in receiving PCR result means infected pass on virus in interim

3. Superior sensitivity of PCR is a disadvantage when detects low levels of virus that aren't transmissible or non-viable virus long after infection

2/5