International comparison of the impact of the pandemic and vaccination measures adopted on children and adolescent population
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Abstract
Background
The objectives of this study were to compare the cumulative incidence, hospitalizations and mortality, by country and age group, in child and young people (CYP) from the beginning of the pandemic to January 2022, and to describe the differences and similarities and justification in the measures adopted in relation to CYP vaccination against SARS-CoV-2.
Methods
A descriptive quantitative summary of the available data on the impact of the COVID-19 on children and adolescents (<18y) from 7 countries (Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Nigeria, Ghana, Spain) or regions (Kocaeli, Turkey), based on official published data was performed. Outcome measures were: available data on incidence, admission to hospital and to intensive care units (ICU), and deaths, by country or region; vaccination plans, including age, type of vaccine and official justification about the proposal.
Results
All countries analyzed data showed variable incidence rate, and relatively low ICU hospitalizations and deaths. Vaccines used and age at starting were also variable, i.e. starting at 3-5y in some Latin American countries, while in other countries proposal starts at 15y old. Almost all justifications were based on the idea to promote collective protection, and that vaccination is important as it -directly and indirectly-protect the rest of the population.
Conclusions
The results reinforce the idea of the urgent need to prioritize globally and equitably distribution of vaccines in the population at greatest risk, and to apply the precautionary principle in CYP before deciding to massively vaccinate it.
What is known
The child population has less severe infections and seems to transmit the infection less than the adult population.
Published data from the Randomized Clinical Trials (RCT) of vaccines in minors presented short follow-up than in the adult population and basically studied the incidence of infection as the main endpoint
What this study adds
Mortality in the child population due to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic has been low in all the countries analyzed
The vaccines used as well as the vaccination guidelines shows high variability in these countries
The results of the study reinforce the need to establish global and equitable mechanisms for the distribution of vaccines and prioritize the population at greatest risk, such as older people.
In the child population, it is necessary to apply the precautionary principle before establishing massive vaccination plans
Article activity feed
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SciScore for 10.1101/2022.03.24.22272863: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
No key resources detected.
Results from OddPub: Thank you for sharing your data.
Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:19 In summary, the equitable distribution of vaccines in the population at greatest risk should be prioritized and its distribution worldwide before proposing the vaccination of CYP. 20 Among the limitations of the study, particularly its lack of global representativity related with a convenience selection of the participant countries, it is worth mentioning that …
SciScore for 10.1101/2022.03.24.22272863: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
No key resources detected.
Results from OddPub: Thank you for sharing your data.
Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:19 In summary, the equitable distribution of vaccines in the population at greatest risk should be prioritized and its distribution worldwide before proposing the vaccination of CYP. 20 Among the limitations of the study, particularly its lack of global representativity related with a convenience selection of the participant countries, it is worth mentioning that the fast and variable Sars-CoV-2 pandemic dynamics press to have variable and quick measures; the epidemiologic definitions have changed over time, as well as data collection, the number and specificity of tests that are carried out, and other variables. After the caveat referred above, the results of the research, in terms of severity and mortality, confirm that regardless of the level of development and access to vaccines, the SARS-CoV-2 affections to the CYP are similar in the countries analyzed, confirming that this population presents fewer negative results compared to the rest of age range populations. As a summary, the results of the present study reinforce the idea of the urgent need to prioritize globally and equitably vaccine distribution in the population at greatest risk, and to apply the precautionary principle in the CYP before deciding to massively vaccinate it.
Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.
Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.
Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.
Results from rtransparent:- Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- No protocol registration statement was detected.
Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.
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