COVID-19 Vaccines Are Unlikely to Trigger Rare Inflammatory Condition in Kids

According to Tuesday’s analysis of U.S. government data, COVID-19 vaccines won’t cause a rare condition that is linked to coronavirus infections in children.
Multisystem inflammation syndrome is also known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome for children. This condition involves fever and symptoms that at least 2 organs. Often, it includes bloodshot eyes or stomach pain. It’s a rare complication in kids who have had COVID-19, and very rarely affects adults. This condition is often fatal and requires hospitalization. However, the majority of patients are able to recover.
This disease was reported for the first time in the United Kingdom early in 2020. It can lead to swelling and other heart issues. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 6800 cases of the disease have been identified in the U.S. since February 2020.
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The CDC and U.S. Food and Drug Administration have added COVID-19 to a list of potential adverse events that are of particular interest as part of vaccine safety monitoring. Researchers at the CDC, and other organizations were prompted to conduct a new analysis Tuesday after a few people reported cases with no evidence of coronavirus infections. Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.
According to Dr. Buddy Creech (a Vanderbilt University pediatric infectious Disease specialist) is currently leading an investigation of Moderna shots in children.
“We don’t know what the exact contribution of the vaccine to these illnesses is,’’ Creech said. “Vaccine alone in absence of a preceding infection appears not to be a substantial trigger.’’
Learn More: Why Your Children Should Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19
From December 2020 up to August 2021, surveillance data was used for the nine first months of COVID-19 in America. During that time, the FDA authorized Pfizer’s COVID-19 shots for ages 16 and up; expanded that in May to ages 12 through 15; and authorized Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots for ages 18 and up.
Between 12 and 20 years old, more than 21,000,000 people received at least one dose of vaccines. After receiving the vaccine, 21 of these people developed an inflammatory condition. The analysis revealed that all had been given Pfizer shots. The analysis revealed that 15 of 21 patients had evidence from a COVID-19-related infection, which could have caused the condition.
The remaining six had no evidence of a previous infection, but the researchers said they could not conclude definitively that they’d never had COVID-19 or some other infection that could have led to the inflammatory condition. COVID-19 in kids can often be undiagnosed and not tested.
These results indicate that 1 out of 1,000,000 children have been vaccinated for COVID-19. 1 in 3 million have not had COVID-19 and 1 in 3 million have never had it.
Most kids who had COVID-19 don’t develop the post-infection illness, but it is estimated to happen at a significantly higher rate than both of those post-vaccination figures. From April 2020 to June 2020 the incidence was 200 per million among unvaccinated people between 12 and 20 years old in the United States.
“Their findings overall are quite reassuring,’’ Dr. Mary Beth Son of Boston Children’s Hospital wrote in a commentary accompanying the study.
Dr. Adam Ratner, a pediatrician-scientist at New York University Langone Health, said the results show that chances are “super rare” for the shots to prompt an immune response that could lead to the inflammatory condition. By contrast, there’s strong evidence that vaccination protects kids from getting COVID-19 as well as the condition, Ratner said.