Ecuador considers vaccinating children under 3 against covid

During the last quarter, pediatric health care services have been flooded with patients infected with COVID-19.

This so-called fifth pandemic wave represents a new peak in global infection statistics caused by the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages and also affects children under 3 years of age.

In Ecuador, this population is precisely the part of society that is not included in the vaccination schedules. For this reason, health authorities are already considering establishing mechanisms to immunize patients at this age.

Although the main characteristics of these two subvariants include the fact that they are more contagious than the original version of the disease and even increase the risk of reinfection, experts assure that they do not cause greater seriousness.

According to a South African study, the BA.4 and BA.5 variants had the highest reproductive capacity, similar to measles, and are currently the most infectious viral disease.

For the British Nature, one of the most prestigious scientific journals worldwide, so far, the last type of omicron seems to cause fewer deaths and hospitalizations than its older cousins from Wuhan, and the later variants, alpha, beta, gamma, and delta.

The Baca Ortiz Children’s Hospital in Quito reported 422 suspected cases in June and July, while 82 infected patients were confirmed, half of whom were children under 3 years of age. Of these, 50% were not vaccinated or had chronic diseases.

For this reason, the health authorities insist on the benefits of vaccination after the relaxation in the population when accessing the first dose of immunization and not coming forward to receive their booster dose.

The symptoms of unvaccinated children are usually: high and persistent fever during the first days, cough, runny nose, and diarrhea.

Some are even unable to eat due to an intense sore throat and must be hospitalized to receive intravenous fluids for an average of four days of hospitalization. At Baca Ortiz, some children needed oxygen.

According to experts, these viral variants generally show no signs of difference with the omicron version or even with the first version of the disease. Therefore, it is difficult to distinguish between the different types of infection.

To the French National Public Health Agency, the symptoms of people infected with BA.4 and BA.5 can be: cough, runny nose, sore throat, fatigue, headache, body aches, and, as with the other omicron subvariants, the patient is unlikely to lose the sense of taste and smell, or be unable to breathe, compared to the effects with the delta variant or other types of coronaviruses.

As with the BA.2 subvariant, the current BA.4 and BA.5 show a short incubation period of about two days, while the duration of clinical symptoms averages seven days for BA.4 and BA.5 cases, the French health institution reported.

In 2020, when the pandemic began, hospitalizations were concentrated in adult patients, but the registration of pediatric patients increased when the omicron variant began circulating in January of this year.

A new study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that long-lasting COVID-19, or one whose symptoms persist four weeks after infection, also affects children and adolescents.

Even though vaccination does not guarantee complete immunity and does not stop the spread of the virus, the U.S. institution recommends vaccinating all children older than 6 months, which is the minimum age for vaccination recommended by specialists.

With information from Infobae