Doctor Warns of High Omicron Infection Risk in Children

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BANGKOK (NNT) - A doctor has warned people not to downplay the threat posed by the Omicron coronavirus variant while urging unvaccinated people, especially children, to get inoculated as soon as possible.

 

According to an SNS post by Dr Manop Pithukpakorn, chief of the Siriraj Center of Research Excellence in Precision Medicine, reports from the United Kingdom show a drastic increase in child hospitalizations from the Omicron variant compared to other strains. The new variant is highly transmissible and while many adults have already had their booster shots, most children have not received boosters and in some cases are completely unvaccinated.

 

Dr Manop wrote that recent reports from countries with high vaccination rates, such as the UK and Denmark, or high immunization rates such as South Africa, indicate that children are at high risk of contracting the Omicron strain. The number of young patients in these countries has surged dramatically and while the symptoms are not severe, especially compared to cases involving elderly patients, children may experience long-term health effects stemming from COVID-19 or multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C).

 

Dr Manop said he hopes the government will provide youths with vaccinations as soon as possible. He also proposed giving children one-third the dose of the standard Pfizer injection given to adults, noting that the government does not need to wait for a fresh batch of vaccines.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-12-27

 

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