Flu vaccine for children? Paediatricians: 'Do it now, epidemic already started'
There are no ‘cons’ but only ‘lots of’ ‘pros’ to getting the flu vaccine from 6 months up to 6 years of age
The flu seems to have already arrived this year, and it is preferable to protect the youngest with the vaccine ‘right away’, especially to protect older grandparents or frail relatives.
On the other hand, there are no ‘cons’ but only ‘many’ ‘pros’ in getting vaccinated from 6 months up to 6 years of age, all the more so in this season that will see ‘more cases’ of influenza in the paediatric population, with a concomitance of Covid and other respiratory viruses that will make winter more problematic.
Guido Castelli Gattinara, president of the Italian Society of Paediatric Infectivology (SITIP) and infectivologist at the Institute for Health at the Bambino Gesù hospital in Rome, spoke about this and more during an interview.
– Flu vaccine for children. What are the ‘pros’ and also the ‘cons’ if any?
“The ‘pros’ are many, the flu vaccine for children should absolutely be done, as suggested by the recommendations of both the Ministry of Health and all the major international agencies that are super partes and that we can trust.
Children from 6 months to 6 years of age should definitely be vaccinated because they have a higher risk not only of catching the flu, but also of transmitting it to their grandparents who may have risk factors or other concomitant diseases.
In short: it is important that we vaccinate all children and not only up to the age of 6, but also after that’.
– When to start vaccinating children? Better to do it earlier this year?
‘Yes it is better to do it earlier because this year the epidemic starts earlier, in fact it has already started, we already have unfortunately a number of cases admitted to the Bambino Gesù that have shown to have seasonal flu.
There is no precise period for vaccination, but it is better to start it now because it obviously protects earlier’.
– Given the reduced circulation of viruses in the last two years, should we expect more cases of influenza among children?
“Unfortunately yes, in the other hemisphere, and these data come from observations made Australia and in regions where it was winter when we had summer, it was seen that this virus seems to circulate earlier and more.
So it is likely that children will also become more infected this year, also because they do not have the acquired immunity of previous years and often not even the vaccination of previous years’.
– But what kind of winter will it be then for children, between Covid and influenza?
‘It will perhaps be a winter with a few more problems precisely because there are two major infections.
Influenza is also quite a serious infection, we know that in the pre-Covid era there were about 6,000 to 8,000 deaths from influenza in Italy every year.
Of course, it is mainly the elderly, but also fragile children who have complications due to the infection.
We have to keep this well in mind when we consider the choice to do or not to do vaccines’.
– Flu vaccine, let’s talk about spray vaccines, what do paediatricians say? Are they more or less effective? What is your experience?
“Spray vaccines are just as effective as those given by injection.
This is said once again by the literature rather than by our fairly limited experience, since in Italy this would only be the third year that we have been vaccinating with the live attenuated spray vaccine.
These vaccines are very good, they stimulate a specific immune response just as much as injection vaccines, and they are as safe as all the others, i.e. almost total’.
– What are the side effects?
“With injection vaccines it is usually redness of the injection site, swelling of the arm, and some fever; with the nasal spray vaccine these effects are greatly reduced, while there may be some complications of colds or inflammation of the airways where the vaccine is sprayed.
A vaccine that does not hurt, however, is definitely a great advantage for children from the age of 2 onwards, i.e. from when it can be given.
– Children and long Covid, how much do we know today? And what is the relationship with MIS-C (Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome)?
“We know that children can also have both long Covid and MIS-C, both complications related to SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Fortunately they are quite rare in childhood, it must be said, but we have had children admitted with acute inflammatory syndromes, even very serious ones, and today we follow children with clinical manifestations that are prolonged after Covid.
At the Bambino Gesù there is a specific centre for long Covid therapy, certainly these are conditions that are best avoided with vaccination.
Even children as young as 5 years old can be vaccinated against Covid, and this too is a safe vaccine with an efficacy that is not 100 per cent, but established by all scientific work’.
Read Also:
Emergency Live Even More…Live: Download The New Free App Of Your Newspaper For IOS And Android
Seasonal Illnesses: What To Eat When You Have Flu?
Plaques In The Throat: How To Recognise Them
Tonsillitis: Symptoms, Diagnosis And Treatment
Sore Throat: How To Diagnose Strep Throat?
Sore Throat: When Is It Caused By Streptococcus?
Pharyngotonsillitis: Symptoms And Diagnosis
Sanofi Pasteur Study Shows Efficacy Of Co-Administration Of Covid And Influenza Vaccines
Paediatricians: ‘Flu Vaccine For Children Now, The Virus Is Coming’
Paediatricians USA: Which Flu Vaccine Should Children Get?