Are children susceptible to encephalitis? The mortality rate is 10 times worse without vaccination? Doctors urge you to seek medical attention immediately if you have these signs.
Do the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination for children outweigh the risks? The death rate difference may be 10 times
Are vaccinations safe? will there be any side-effects? Some parents are worried about the safety of vaccines, and even think it is safer to let their children be infected with Omicron virus to gain natural protection? Dr. Zhou Yuguang, Director of Pediatrics at Guangtian General Hospital, said in an interview that the most important measure of the protection from infectious diseases and vaccination is the mortality rate. Judging from the mortality rate of children in epidemic areas, children should be vaccinated as early as possible. Better protection.
Dr. Zhou Yuguang pointed out that according to Hong Kong data published in newspapers, the mortality rate among children is as high as 0.35%. In comparison, Taiwan’s data on vaccination adverse event reports show that so far the mortality rate due to vaccination is 0 for children under 12 years old, and 0.2 for every 100,000 doses administered between 12 and 17 years old, which is similar to that of children in Hong Kong. The mortality rate of the epidemic is 0.35%, a difference of more than dozens of times. It shows that vaccination of children has obvious protective effect against epidemic disease and severe disease.
“If the disease produces antibodies after natural infection and there is no mortality or complications, you can consider not getting vaccinated. However, considering that Omicron has a certain death and severe disease rate, it is safer to give children the protective power of vaccination of!”
Dr. Zhou Yuguang pointed out that nearly 50,000 doses of childhood vaccines have been administered to children under 12 years old in clinical practice without any fatal side effects. Although the number of doses administered is not large, if 50,000 children were infected, the mortality rate would be based on Hong Kong values. According to estimates, there are still quite alarming numbers of severe cases and deaths. It is recommended that parents take their children to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as early as possible.
How can children improve their immunity? Pay attention to sleep nutrition and get the vaccine quickly
As the epidemic heats up, how should parents respond to reduce the risk of children getting infected? Dr. Zhou Yuguang suggested that it is necessary to increase children’s personal immunity, including adequate sleep, balanced nutrition, and adequate intake of vitamins, especially vitamin D, selenium, zinc and other immunity-related nutrients.
In addition, reducing visits to public places, especially confined spaces, such as clubs, movie theaters and other places with poor air circulation, and always maintaining good epidemic prevention habits such as wearing masks, washing hands frequently, and keeping the environment as ventilated as possible can reduce the chance of disease infection.
“If you just take the epidemic prevention leave and stay at home, it will only be effective during the period of avoiding contact with the outside world. Once you go out, the protective effect will probably become worse. Therefore, to prevent children from getting infected, the most important thing is to get vaccinated. The protection can last for a long time. For several months!”
Is Pfizer better than Moderna? Side effects vary from person to person
However, some parents hope to have their children vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine, believing that it is more protective and safer. Dr. Zhou Yuguang said that from the perspective of big data, both the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine have more than 90% protection, and there is not much difference in the risk of side effects. Parents should not be obsessed with small differences in data to prevent their children from being diagnosed during this window period when they are not vaccinated.
Dr. Zhou Yuguang emphasized that the genetic expression of everyone’s immune system is different. Therefore, it does not mean that the side effects of one person’s injection will definitely occur in other people. Similarly, it does not mean that whoever takes a certain vaccine without side effects will not have side effects in others.
As for side effects such as myocarditis and pericarditis caused by injection vaccines, judging from big data, they actually only account for a very small percentage. Compared with the risk of severe illness and death after infection, the protective benefits of vaccination in reducing severe illness and death are obvious.
Omicron infection prone to neurological symptoms? Doctors warn of warning signs
Dr. Zhou Yuguang reminded that the clinical symptoms of Omicron are milder than those of Alpha and Delta, which may easily cause some people to neglect epidemic prevention and reduce their awareness of wearing masks and being fully vaccinated. When infected people with mild or asymptomatic symptoms do not implement epidemic prevention measures, they can easily spread the virus as soon as they come into contact with the public.
In addition, schools have not yet fully implemented vaccinations, which has resulted in the current serious situation of the new coronavirus epidemic in Omicron. According to media reports, the percentage of children diagnosed with Omicron who develop neurological symptoms after infection in this wave has increased compared with previous waves of epidemics. Dr. Zhou Yuguang reminded that once the virus invades the central nervous system, it may cause encephalitis symptoms such as persistent fever, confusion, and drowsiness in children. Parents should pay special attention to this.
Dr. Zhou Yuguang pointed out that currently, infants and young children under 3 months old who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 have no symptoms but continue to have a high fever; infants and young children between 3 and 12 months old should seek medical treatment if they develop high fever, severe cough, runny nose, gastroenteritis and other symptoms. . For children of primary school age, if they only have mild cold or mild gastroenteritis symptoms after diagnosis, they can first rest at home and take medicine for observation.
However, Dr. Zhou Yuguang reminded that when a child has a fever greater than 39 degrees, is accompanied by chills or high fever for more than 2 days, and has persistent vomiting, inability to eat, poor mobility, confusion, etc., he or she needs to be hospitalized for observation and treatment. Especially when symptoms of hypoxia such as shortness of breath occur, you should go to the doctor immediately to check whether you have heart or lung problems. You can also prepare a blood oxygen analyzer at home to monitor whether your child is hypoxic.
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