A team of scientists at the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Childrens Hospital contributed to a nationwide research study on the effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTechs COVID-19 vaccine against hospitalization in kids age 12-18. Mack likewise emphasized that kids contaminated with the Delta variant were more likely to have disease similar to the adult phenotype. Other children in the study were enrolled as controls hospitalized with syndromes similar to COVID-19, like pneumonia, or with syndromes unrelated to COVID-19, like a damaged leg.– Dr. Elizabeth Mack.
” The low vaccination rates in the pediatric population at this moment are not most likely mainly associated with vaccine access,” stated Mack, as she described some parents are reluctant to get their kids vaccinated. “Fertility and adolescence are the leading concerns moms and dads have, however fortunately the information supports vaccination of adolescents and ladies without negative effect on these concerns.”
Mack described that studies taking a look at the long-lasting effects of the vaccine are ongoing. The long-term impacts of COVID-19 have already been ravaging. Some children have actually needed intense inpatient rehabilitation, others have actually required tracheostomy positioning, and still others have had enduring kidney or cardiac disease..
” In the ICU, we see a lot of moms and dads wishing their children were vaccinated,” stated Mack. “Those children have multisystem organ failures, months in the ICU, great deals of procedures, monetary destruction and loss of school time.”.
The study showed that the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine worked versus hospitalization in patients age 12-18, throughout the duration when the Delta variation was predominant.
” COVID-19 and its results are all vaccine-preventable,” stressed Mack. “The vaccine works for children!”.
Recommendation: “Effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA Vaccination Against COVID-19 Hospitalization Among Persons Aged 12– 18 Years– United States, June– September 2021″ by Samantha M. Olson, MPH; Margaret M. Newhams, MPH; Natasha B. Halasa, MD; Ashley M. Price, MPH; Julie A. Boom, MD; Leila C. Sahni, PhD; Katherine Irby, MD; Tracie C. Walker, MD; Stephanie P. Schwartz, MD; Pia S. Pannaraj, MD; Aline B. Maddux, MD; Tamara T. Bradford, MD; Ryan A. Nofziger, MD; Benjamin J. Boutselis; Melissa L. Cullimore, MD; Elizabeth H. Mack, MD; Jennifer E. Schuster, MD; Shira J. Gertz, MD; Natalie Z. Cvijanovich, MD; Michele Kong, MD; Melissa A. Cameron, MD; Mary A. Staat, MD; Emily R. Levy, MD; Brandon M. Chatani, MD; Kathleen Chiotos, MD; Laura D. Zambrano, PhD; Angela P. Campbell, MD; Manish M. Patel, MD; Adrienne G. Randolph, MD and Overcoming COVID-19 Investigators, 19 October 2021, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Repor.DOI: 10.15585/ mmwr.mm7042e1.
Dr. Elizabeth Mack, left, and pediatric extensive care unit nurse Alexandra Rosol look after an unvaccinated patient in the PICU. Credit: MUSC
A group of researchers at the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Childrens Hospital contributed to an across the country study on the effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTechs COVID-19 vaccine versus hospitalization in children age 12-18. The study was conducted by 19 health centers in 16 states. The results of the research study, released in the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, reveal that the vaccine is efficient against hospitalization in that population.
” People assume that kids have a much milder COVID-19 course. However the Delta variation is different,” said Elizabeth Mack, M.D., pediatric critical care doctor and primary private investigator for the MUSC research study site.
Mack explained that 100% of COVID-19 pediatric clients hospitalized at the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Childrens Hospital considering that the beginning of the pandemic have actually been unvaccinated.
Mack likewise emphasized that kids contaminated with the Delta version were most likely to have illness similar to the adult phenotype. To put it simply, all of their organs are at risk of damage, not specifically the lungs. Kids in the South were at a specifically high threat due to low vaccination rates and a high number of comorbidities, consisting of weight problems and asthma.
” We have seen kids with COVID-19 in the ICU with horrendous respiratory failure, kidney failure, liver failure, cardiovascular failure, and weve regrettably seen deaths as well,” said Mack.
Some of these kids were hospitalized for COVID-19. Other kids in the research study were enrolled as controls hospitalized with syndromes comparable to COVID-19, like pneumonia, or with syndromes unassociated to COVID-19, like a damaged leg.
PICU nurse Alexandra Rosol, left, and Dr. Elizabeth Mack, right, going over a client. Credit: MUSC
” The point of this study was to take a look at the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine efficiency in children in the 12- to 18-year-old age group after getting two shots,” said Mack. “The results revealed that the vaccine was incredibly reliable, and that a few of the hospitalized COVID-19 clients who were not secured with the vaccine had some quite extreme courses.”
Mack also described that there was a high frequency of heart muscle inflammation due to either COVID-19 or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in kids, distinct from the really low risk of myocarditis related to the vaccine.
” We just had a couple of cases of heart muscle inflammation due to the vaccine, and those patients had normal cardiac function and needed only ibuprofen. They were discharged house in a day or 2,” discussed Mack
In South Carolina, 66% of kids age 12-19 are still unvaccinated.
— Dr. Elizabeth Mack
” In the ICU, we see a great deal of moms and dads wanting their children were immunized. Those children have actually multisystem organ failures, months in the ICU, lots of treatments, monetary devastation and loss of school time.”– Dr. Elizabeth Mack.
Mack discussed that research studies looking at the long-lasting effects of the vaccine are ongoing.