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Ryan RE, Silke C, Parkhill A, Virgona A, Merner B, Hurley S, Walsh L, de Moel-Mandel C, Schonfeld L, Edwards AG, Kaufman J, Cooper A, Chung RKY, Solo K, Hellard M, Di Tanna GL, Pedrana A, Saich F, Hill S. Communication to promote and support physical distancing for COVID-19 prevention and control. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2023; 10:CD015144. [PMID: 37811673 PMCID: PMC10561351 DOI: 10.1002/14651858.cd015144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND This review is an update of a rapid review undertaken in 2020 to identify relevant, feasible and effective communication approaches to promote acceptance, uptake and adherence to physical distancing measures for COVID-19 prevention and control. The rapid review was published when little was known about transmission, treatment or future vaccination, and when physical distancing measures (isolation, quarantine, contact tracing, crowd avoidance, work and school measures) were the cornerstone of public health responses globally. This updated review includes more recent evidence to extend what we know about effective pandemic public health communication. This includes considerations of changes needed over time to maintain responsiveness to pandemic transmission waves, the (in)equities and variable needs of groups within communities due to the pandemic, and highlights again the critical role of effective communication as integral to the public health response. OBJECTIVES To update the evidence on the question 'What are relevant, feasible and effective communication approaches to promote acceptance, uptake and adherence to physical distancing measures for COVID-19 prevention and control?', our primary focus was communication approaches to promote and support acceptance, uptake and adherence to physical distancing. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE to explore and identify key elements of effective communication for physical distancing measures for different (diverse) populations and groups. SEARCH METHODS We searched MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Library databases from inception, with searches for this update including the period 1 January 2020 to 18 August 2021. Systematic review and study repositories and grey literature sources were searched in August 2021 and guidelines identified for the eCOVID19 Recommendations Map were screened (November 2021). SELECTION CRITERIA Guidelines or reviews focusing on communication (information, education, reminders, facilitating decision-making, skills acquisition, supporting behaviour change, support, involvement in decision-making) related to physical distancing measures for prevention and/or control of COVID-19 or selected other diseases (sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), influenza, Ebola virus disease (EVD) or tuberculosis (TB)) were included. New evidence was added to guidelines, reviews and primary studies included in the 2020 review. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Methods were based on the original rapid review, using methods developed by McMaster University and informed by Cochrane rapid review guidance. Screening, data extraction, quality assessment and synthesis were conducted by one author and checked by a second author. Synthesis of results was conducted using modified framework analysis, with themes from the original review used as an initial framework. MAIN RESULTS This review update includes 68 studies, with 17 guidelines and 20 reviews added to the original 31 studies. Synthesis identified six major themes, which can be used to inform policy and decision-making related to planning and implementing communication about a public health emergency and measures to protect the community. Theme 1: Strengthening public trust and countering misinformation: essential foundations for effective public health communication Recognising the key role of public trust is essential. Working to build and maintain trust over time underpins the success of public health communications and, therefore, the effectiveness of public health prevention measures. Theme 2: Two-way communication: involving communities to improve the dissemination, accessibility and acceptability of information Two-way communication (engagement) with the public is needed over the course of a public health emergency: at first, recognition of a health threat (despite uncertainties), and regularly as public health measures are introduced or adjusted. Engagement needs to be embedded at all stages of the response and inform tailoring of communications and implementation of public health measures over time. Theme 3: Development of and preparation for public communication: target audience, equity and tailoring Communication and information must be tailored to reach all groups within populations, and explicitly consider existing inequities and the needs of disadvantaged groups, including those who are underserved, vulnerable, from diverse cultural or language groups, or who have lower educational attainment. Awareness that implementing public health measures may magnify existing or emerging inequities is also needed in response planning, enactment and adjustment over time. Theme 4: Public communication features: content, timing and duration, delivery Public communication needs to be based on clear, consistent, actionable and timely (up-to-date) information about preventive measures, including the benefits (whether for individual, social groupings or wider society), harms (likewise) and rationale for use, and include information about supports available to help follow recommended measures. Communication needs to occur through multiple channels and/or formats to build public trust and reach more of the community. Theme 5: Supporting behaviour change at individual and population levels Supporting implementation of public health measures with practical supports and services (e.g. essential supplies, financial support) is critical. Information about available supports must be widely disseminated and well understood. Supports and communication related to them require flexibility and tailoring to explicitly consider community needs, including those of vulnerable groups. Proactively monitoring and countering stigma related to preventive measures (e.g. quarantine) is also necessary to support adherence. Theme 6: Fostering and sustaining receptiveness and responsiveness to public health communication Efforts to foster and sustain public receptiveness and responsiveness to public health communication are needed throughout a public health emergency. Trust, acceptance and behaviours change over time, and communication needs to be adaptive and responsive to these changing needs. Ongoing community engagement efforts should inform communication and public health response measures. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS Implications for practice Evidence highlights the critical role of communication throughout a public health emergency. Like any intervention, communication can be done well or poorly, but the consequences of poor communication during a pandemic may mean the difference between life and death. The approaches to effective communication identified in this review can be used by policymakers and decision-makers, working closely with communication teams, to plan, implement and adjust public communications over the course of a public health emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic. Implications for research Despite massive growth in research during the COVID-19 period, gaps in the evidence persist and require high-quality, meaningful research. This includes investigating the experiences of people at heightened COVID-19 risk, and identifying barriers to implementing public communication and protective health measures particular to lower- and middle-income countries, and how to overcome these.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca E Ryan
- Centre for Health Communication and Participation, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
| | - Charlotte Silke
- UNESCO Child & Family Research Centre, School of Political Science & Sociology, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Anne Parkhill
- Centre for Health Communication and Participation, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
| | - Ariane Virgona
- Centre for Health Communication and Participation, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
| | - Bronwen Merner
- Centre for Health Communication and Participation, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
| | - Shauna Hurley
- Cochrane Australia, School of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Louisa Walsh
- Centre for Health Communication and Participation, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
- Department of Nursing and Allied Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Australia
- Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia
| | | | - Lina Schonfeld
- Centre for Health Communication and Participation, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
| | - Adrian Gk Edwards
- Wales COVID-19 Evidence Centre, Cardiff University, 8th floor Neuadd Meirionnydd, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN , UK
- PRIME Centre Wales, Division of Population Medicine, School of Medicine, 8th floor Neuadd Meirionnydd, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Jessica Kaufman
- Centre for Health Communication and Participation, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
- Vaccine Uptake Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute , The Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Australia
| | - Alison Cooper
- Wales COVID-19 Evidence Centre, Cardiff University, 8th floor Neuadd Meirionnydd, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN , UK
- PRIME Centre Wales, Division of Population Medicine, School of Medicine, 8th floor Neuadd Meirionnydd, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | | | - Karla Solo
- GRADE McMaster & Cochrane Canada, Health Research Methods, Evidence & Impact, McMaster University , Hamilton, Ontario , Canada
| | | | - Gian Luca Di Tanna
- Department of Business Economics, Health and Social Care, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Lugano, Switzerland
- The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | | | | | - Sophie Hill
- Centre for Health Communication and Participation, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
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Omaleki V, Vo AV, Flores M, Majnoonian A, Le T, Nguyen M, Duong D, Hassani A, Wijaya FC, Gonzalez-Zuniga PE, Gaines T, Garfein RS, Fielding-Miller R. "It's hard for everyone" systemic barriers to home confinement to prevent community spread of COVID-19. Transl Behav Med 2023; 13:64-72. [PMID: 36271869 PMCID: PMC9620324 DOI: 10.1093/tbm/ibac074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Rapid identification and isolation/quarantine of COVID-19 cases or close contacts, respectively, is a vital tool to support safe, in-person learning. However, safe isolation or quarantine for a young child also necessitates home confinement for at least one adult caregiver, as well as rapid learning material development by the teacher to minimize learning loss. The purpose of this study is to better understand barriers and supports to student home confinement. We conducted a mixed-methods study using focus group discussions and a self-administered online survey with parents and staff members from 12 elementary schools and childcare sites across San Diego County serving low-income and socially vulnerable families. Focus group participants reported that mental distress and loneliness, learning loss, childcare, food, income loss, and overcrowded housing were major barriers related to home confinement. The experiences described by FGD participants were prevalent in a concurrent community survey: 25% of participants reported that isolation would be extremely difficult for a household member who tested positive or was exposed to COVID-19, and 20% were extremely concerned about learning loss while in isolation or quarantine. Our findings suggest that there are serious structural impediments to safely completing the entire recommended course of isolation or quarantine, and that the potential for isolation or quarantine may also lead to increased hesitancy to access diagnostic testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinton Omaleki
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
- Center on Gender Equity and Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Anh V Vo
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-International Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Marlene Flores
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
- Center on Gender Equity and Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Araz Majnoonian
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
- Center on Gender Equity and Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
- Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health-Global Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Tina Le
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Megan Nguyen
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-International Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Dawn Duong
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Ashkan Hassani
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Fitri C Wijaya
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
- Center on Gender Equity and Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Patricia E Gonzalez-Zuniga
- Division of Infectious Disease and Global Public Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Tommi Gaines
- Division of Infectious Disease and Global Public Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Richard S Garfein
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Rebecca Fielding-Miller
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
- Center on Gender Equity and Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
- Division of Infectious Disease and Global Public Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
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Campagnani G, Bardanzellu F, Pintus MC, Fanos V, Marcialis MA. COVID-19 Vaccination in Children: An Open Question. Curr Pediatr Rev 2022; 18:226-236. [PMID: 34931965 DOI: 10.2174/1573396318666211220093111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Revised: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 10/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND A safe and effective vaccine represents the best way to control the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused more than 4 million deaths to date. Several vaccines have now been approved worldwide, depending on the country. Being administered to healthy people, anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines must meet high safety standards, and this is even more important among the pediatric population in which the risk of developing severe disease is significantly lower than adults. However, vaccination of the pediatric population could help in reducing viral spread in the whole population. OBJECTIVE Our narrative review analyzes and discusses the currently available literature on the advantages and disadvantages of COVID-19 vaccination in the pediatric population. METHODS A bibliographic research was conducted through Pubmed, Read, and Scopus using COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, immunization, antibody, COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, COVID-19 vaccine safety, children, adolescents, MIS-C, adverse effects as keywords. RESULTS Although children are less susceptible to COVID-19 infection, they can develop serious consequences, including multi-inflammatory syndrome. However, any vaccine-related side effects should be evaluated before administering vaccination to children while ensuring complete safety. To date, adverse effects are reported in adolescents and young adults following vaccination; however, these are mostly isolated reports. CONCLUSION Further investigation is needed to establish whether there is indeed a cause-and-effect relationship in the development of vaccine-related adverse effects. However, to date, COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for children and adolescents older than 12 years of age. However, this question is still under debate and involves ethical, political, and social issues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Campagnani
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, AOU University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy, SS 554 km 4,500, 09042 Monserrato, CA , Italy
| | - Flaminia Bardanzellu
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, AOU University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy, SS 554 km 4,500, 09042 Monserrato, CA , Italy
| | - Maria Cristina Pintus
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, AOU University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy, SS 554 km 4,500, 09042 Monserrato, CA , Italy
| | - Vassilios Fanos
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, AOU University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy, SS 554 km 4,500, 09042 Monserrato, CA , Italy
| | - Maria Antonietta Marcialis
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, AOU University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy, SS 554 km 4,500, 09042 Monserrato, CA , Italy
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Rasheed Z. Perspective of COVID-19 on children and teenagers: An update. Int J Health Sci (Qassim) 2022; 16:1-2. [PMID: 35024027 PMCID: PMC8721216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Zafar Rasheed
- Department of Medical Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Qassim University, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia,Address for correspondence: Zafar Rasheed, Department of Medical Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Qassim University, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia. E-mail:
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Juliansen A, Octavius GS, Tan AO, Pardede CSB, Thandy CC, Fisca CAL, Wijaya JH. Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior of Parents toward School Reopening Amidst Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic in Indonesia. Open Access Maced J Med Sci 2021. [DOI: 10.3889/oamjms.2021.6869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives: Recently, the subject of reopening schools has raised several concerns, especially on the possibility of new COVID-19 cluster cases. The parent's role is essential in this matter. Therefore, this study aims to understand the parents' knowledge, attitude, and behavior toward COVID-19 in Indonesia.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 206 Indonesian parents. A 55-items questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of subjects. In this study, median split tests, Kruskal-Wallis, Cronbach's α, and Pearson correlation test were used.
Results: Subjects were found to have high levels of knowledge, especially in the knowledge of COVID-19 as a contagious viral disease (98.5%), and the necessity for children to maintain personal hygiene to prevent COVID-19 (98.5%). Subjects' attitudes were highest at understanding how to prevent COVID-19 (95.1%) and teaching children how to avoid COVID-19 (98.1%). Subjects' attitude was lowest at hearing the news of the death of COVID-19 scares them (72.8%), and on how their child(ren) are getting bored at home because of COVID-19 (69.9%). Subjects' are shown to have high levels of behavior in every question. This study found a significant correlation between socioeconomic status and subjects' knowledge (p = 0.007).
Conclusion: This study revealed a lack of understanding of prevention strategies among low-income households. Hence, there is a need for targeted messaging and health education in low-income settings that consider the challenges they may face when attempting their children to practice COVID-19 prevention if schools reopen.
Keywords: COVID-19, Knowledge, Attitude, Behavior, Parents, Indonesia
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Calvani M, Cantiello G, Cavani M, Lacorte E, Mariani B, Panetta V, Parisi P, Parisi G, Roccabella F, Silvestri P, Vanacore N. Reasons for SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and their role in the transmission of infection according to age: a case-control study. Ital J Pediatr 2021; 47:193. [PMID: 34579754 PMCID: PMC8474731 DOI: 10.1186/s13052-021-01141-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The locations where children get exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection and their contribution in spreading the infection are still not fully understood. Aim of the article is to verify the most frequent reasons for SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and their role in the secondary transmission of the infection. METHODS A case-control study was performed in all SARS-CoV-2 positive children (n = 81) and an equal number of age- and sex- matched controls who were referred to the S. Camillo-Forlanini Pediatric Walk-in Center of Rome. The results of all SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal swabs performed in children aged < 18 years from October 16 to December 19, 2020 were analyzed. RESULTS School contacts were more frequent in controls than in cases (OR 0.49; 95% CI: 0.3-0.9), while household contacts were higher in cases (OR 5.09; 95% CI: 2.2-12.0). In both cases and controls, school contacts were significantly less frequent, while on the contrary household contacts seemed to be more frequent in nursery school children compared to primary school or middle/high school children. A multivariate logistic regression showed that the probability of being positive to SARS-CoV-2 was significantly lower in children who had school contacts or who had flu symptoms compared to children who had household contacts. Results showed a 30.6% secondary attack rate for household contacts. CONCLUSION In our study population, the two most frequent reasons for SARS-CoV-2 infection were school and home contacts. The risk of being positive was 5 times lower in children who had school contacts than in children who had household contacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mauro Calvani
- Operative Unit of Pediatrics, San Camillo-Forlanini Hospital, 00151, Rome, Italy.
- , Rome, Italy.
| | - Giulia Cantiello
- Department of Maternal, Infantile and Urological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Cavani
- Department of Maternal, Infantile and Urological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Eleonora Lacorte
- National Centre for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, National Institute of Health, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Bruno Mariani
- Laboratory of Microbiology and Virology, San Camillo-Forlanini Hospital, 00151, Rome, Italy
| | - Valentina Panetta
- L'altrastatistica srl, Consultancy & Training, Biostatistics office, Rome, Italy
| | - Pasquale Parisi
- NESMOS Department, Faculty of Medicine & Psychology, "Sapienza" University, c/o Sant'Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy
| | - Gabriella Parisi
- Laboratory of Microbiology and Virology, San Camillo-Forlanini Hospital, 00151, Rome, Italy
| | - Federica Roccabella
- Child Neurology, NESMOS Department, Faculty of Medicine & Psychology, "Sapienza" University, c/o Sant'Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy
| | - Paola Silvestri
- Department of Maternal, Infantile and Urological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Nicola Vanacore
- Department of Maternal, Infantile and Urological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161, Rome, Italy
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Kostoff RN, Calina D, Kanduc D, Briggs MB, Vlachoyiannopoulos P, Svistunov AA, Tsatsakis A. Why are we vaccinating children against COVID-19? Toxicol Rep 2021; 8:1665-1684. [PMID: 34540594 PMCID: PMC8437699 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2021.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Revised: 08/11/2021] [Accepted: 08/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
This article examines issues related to COVID-19 inoculations for children. The bulk of the official COVID-19-attributed deaths per capita occur in the elderly with high comorbidities, and the COVID-19 attributed deaths per capita are negligible in children. The bulk of the normalized post-inoculation deaths also occur in the elderly with high comorbidities, while the normalized post-inoculation deaths are small, but not negligible, in children. Clinical trials for these inoculations were very short-term (a few months), had samples not representative of the total population, and for adolescents/children, had poor predictive power because of their small size. Further, the clinical trials did not address changes in biomarkers that could serve as early warning indicators of elevated predisposition to serious diseases. Most importantly, the clinical trials did not address long-term effects that, if serious, would be borne by children/adolescents for potentially decades. A novel best-case scenario cost-benefit analysis showed very conservatively that there are five times the number of deaths attributable to each inoculation vs those attributable to COVID-19 in the most vulnerable 65+ demographic. The risk of death from COVID-19 decreases drastically as age decreases, and the longer-term effects of the inoculations on lower age groups will increase their risk-benefit ratio, perhaps substantially.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniela Calina
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349, Craiova, Romania
| | - Darja Kanduc
- Department of Biosciences, Biotechnologies and Biopharmaceutics, University of Bari, Italy
| | | | | | - Andrey A. Svistunov
- Department of Pharmacology, I.M.Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), 119146, Moscow, Russia
| | - Aristidis Tsatsakis
- Department of Forensic Sciences and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003, Heraklion, Greece
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Calcaterra G, Mehta JL, de Gregorio C, Butera G, Neroni P, Fanos V, Bassareo PP. COVID 19 Vaccine for Adolescents. Concern about Myocarditis and Pericarditis. Pediatr Rep 2021; 13:530-533. [PMID: 34564344 PMCID: PMC8482102 DOI: 10.3390/pediatric13030061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 08/18/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The alarming onset of some cases of myocarditis and pericarditis following the administration of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 mRNA-based vaccines in adolescent males has recently been highlighted. All occurred after the second dose of the vaccine. Fortunately, none of patients were critically ill and each was discharged home. Owing to the possible link between these cases and vaccine administration, the US and European health regulators decided to continue to investigate the potential causal relationship between COVID-19 mRNA vaccines and myocarditis. In any case, none of the patients fulfilled the criteria for multi-system inflammatory syndrome or Kawasaki-like disease and there was no evidence of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Calcaterra
- Department of Cardiology, Postgraduate Medical School of Cardiology, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy;
| | - Jawahar Lal Mehta
- Department of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA;
| | - Cesare de Gregorio
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy;
| | - Gianfranco Butera
- Cardiology, Cardiac Surgery, and Heart Lung Transplantation Department, ERN, GUAR HEART, Bambino Gesu’ Hospital and Research Institute, IRCCS Rome, 00165 Rome, Italy;
| | - Paola Neroni
- Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Department of Surgical Sciences, Policlinico Universitario di Monserrato, University of Cagliari, 09042 Monserrato, Italy; (P.N.); (V.F.)
| | - Vassilios Fanos
- Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Department of Surgical Sciences, Policlinico Universitario di Monserrato, University of Cagliari, 09042 Monserrato, Italy; (P.N.); (V.F.)
| | - Pier Paolo Bassareo
- Department of Cardiology, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin, University College of Dublin, School of Medicine, D07R2WY Dublin, Ireland
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +353-1409-6083
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