Viruses are spreading and children are most affected. The Ministry Circular recommends that everyone be immunized from 6 months to 6 years
The flu vaccine should be offered in all regions, actively and free of charge, to all under 18s from 6 months of age. Alberto Villani, head of the complex operational unit of general paediatrics and infectious diseases at the Bambino Ges hospital in Rome, strongly emphasizes the need to protect minors. From the flu and, when the vaccine is approved for 5-11 years, also from Covid. We have emergency rooms full of little patients with respiratory syncytial virus and soon the wave of flu will arrive: even the latter can cause severe forms in children, with high fever and difficulty in breathing for example. And we cannot predict which ones are at risk of complications: this is an important reason why everyone should be vaccinated, an investment in terms of health. By the way, there is unfortunately no vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, but protecting yourself from the flu can avoid the risk of double infection.
How should pregnant and breastfeeding women behave?
They absolutely must be vaccinated, to protect themselves and the child – says Villani -. In pregnancy vaccines against Covid, influenza and whooping cough are recommended, while breastfeeding Covid and influenza. To effectively protect the baby, the pertussis vaccine should be given during pregnancy.
Is there a flu vaccine formulated as a nasal spray: suitable for all children?
Yes, with the exception of immunosuppressed children and those who have a fragile person in the family, for example a grandparent or parent undergoing chemotherapy – underlines the pediatrician -. In these cases, the classic vaccine is preferred, to be administered by injection, because the nasal spray based on attenuated live virus and in an immunosuppressed subject can represent a boomerang. On the other hand, the vaccine to be injected does not give any problem.
The most affected band ever
The Circular with indications on the 2021-22 flu season was issued as early as April, because the pandemic has taught us how dangerous it is to be caught unprepared. It establishes to anticipate the vaccination campaign as much as possible and recommends the vaccine to various categories, including children between 6 months and 6 years old. Confirmation of the need to protect children comes from the monitoring of the InfluNet surveillance network: in the first weeks of November the incidence of the disease was 17.9 cases per thousand assisted in children under 5 years and the age group most affected by far . The national average of 4.2 cases per thousand assisted, a value in any case more than double compared to the same period of the 2019 season. Some Regions have moved in time, even going beyond the requests of the Ministry: in Lombardy, for example, it is possible to book on the portal of the Region vaccination for all children between 6 months and 13 years. The pediatric vaccine can also be bought at a pharmacy but must be administered by a doctor (or possibly a pharmacist). For children under 9 who have never been vaccinated against influenza before, two doses are recommended at least 4 weeks apart. For all the others, one dose is enough.
Virus isolated in a 4-year-old child
That the flu is affecting the little ones is also shown by the news of the first influenza virus isolated in Southern Italy, at the Policlinico di Bari: the patient is 4 years old and was hospitalized with fever and respiratory distress. The virus of type A, subtype H3N2. The symptomatology of the flu often overlaps with that of Covid: fever, respiratory distress, sore throat, fatigue, headache – explains Maria Chironna, head of the molecular epidemiology and public health laboratory of the Bari Polyclinic -. When these symptoms occur, it is necessary to rule out that it is a coronavirus infection.
Protect grandparents and the community
Masks, spacing and hand hygiene can also protect us from the flu, but we have a much more effective weapon: the vaccine. Respiratory viruses are running at the moment: let’s find the children ready to defend themselves, let’s vaccinate them now – said the national secretary of the Italian Society of Pediatrics, Elena Bozzola -. Vaccinating children is important for themselves, to protect them from the flu but also from co-infections with other viruses because we know that two viruses together are more dangerous than just one. And secondly, vaccination is important to protect the community and the people around the children. Covid has already kept grandparents and grandchildren divided, let’s prevent the flu from doing the same.
The nasal spray option
Moreover there is the possibility to use the vaccine in the form of a nasal spray, thus avoiding the injection. The effective spray has no significant side effects and, above all, very appreciated by parents and health personnel, according to a study coordinated by researchers from the Buzzi Hospital in Milan and published in theItalian Journal of Pediatrics. The research followed 3,226 children and young people aged 2 to 17. After 1 and 3 months, the researchers interviewed the parents about any adverse reactions: they concerned 24.8% of the children, but only in 1.3% of cases were they significant. The most common was rhinitis (52.5%), followed by fever (24.4%) and general malaise (9.3%). Among other things, the study shows that allergies, the most common chronic childhood disease, do not expose young patients who receive the nasal spray vaccine to a greater risk of side effects.
Family flu epidemics
We are seeing many family flu epidemics: the baby starts, then everyone else follows. a worrying situation. And our invitation is to get vaccinated – he confirms Silvestro Scotti, national secretary of the Federation of general practitioners (Fimmg) -. Last year the population did not develop antibodies, due to the low circulation of the virus linked to the anti Covid measures. Not only that: if you become infected with the flu virus, which can leave symptoms such as cough for a long time, and then contract Covid, sneezing and coughing risk spreading the coronavirus more.
Increase in cases of Rsv
its The pediatrician doctor, magazine of the Italian Federation of pediatric doctors (Fimp), a long article dedicated to the need to protect children from flu (Vitali Rosati G. Influenza 2021-22. Let’s not let our guard down. The pediatrician doctor
2021; 30 (3): 37-43). A recent article by Spanish researchers pointed out that Covid mitigation measures can be a double-edged sword and confirms the hypothesis that the reduction in virus circulation can lead to serious risks for the following season – writes Giovanni Vitali Rosati, vaccination referent of the Fimp Toscana -. The article not only focused on the flu but also on respiratory syncytial virus (Rsv), which also collapsed last winter. The authors noted that “the absence of circulation of some pathogens can lead to a decrease in herd immunity towards them. This can promote the increase of more severe, earlier and longer epidemics ”. This hypothesis is confirmed by the sharp increase in RSV cases that occurred in Australia and the USA after the lockdown period.
Explicit recommendation
proved that the child gets sick from the flu 6 times more than the adult, often has complications and needs to be hospitalized and sometimes dies, and it is known that he is the main vehicle of the infection within the family and society – writes Vitali Rosati -. Finally, in this year’s Circular we see an explicit recommendation for influenza vaccination in the 6 months-6 years range. The vaccines available are different, as will the organization in the various Regions. In fact, although the nasal spray is available, not everyone has included it (unfortunately) in competitions and we know how much the possibility of not performing the injection is appreciated in our children in the face of a safe and effective vaccine that has amply demonstrated its ability. in reducing the severity of the disease.
November 22, 2021 (change November 22, 2021 | 18:17)
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