Abstract
ObjectiveTo evaluate the necessity of Covid-19 vaccination in children aged < 12 y by comparing the clinical characteristics between unvaccinated children aged < 12 y and vaccinated patients aged ≥ 12y during the Delta surge (B.1.617.2) in Putian, Fujian, China.MethodsA total of 226 patients with SARS-Cov-2 Delta variant (B.1.167.2; confirmed by Real-time PCR positivity and sequencing) were enrolled from Sep 10th to Oct 20th, 2021, including 77 unvaccinated children (aged < 12y) and 149 people aged ≥ 12y, mostly vaccinated. The transmission route was explored and the clinical data of two groups were compared; The effect factors for the time of the nucleic acid negativization (NAN) were examined by R statistical analysis.ResultsThe Delta surge in Putian spread from children in schools to factories, mostly through family contact. Compared with those aged ≥ 12y, patients aged < 12y accounted for 34.07% of the total and showed milder fever, less cough and fatigue; they reported higher peripheral blood lymphocyte counts [1.84 (1.32, 2.71)×10^9/L vs. 1.31 (0.94, 1.85)×10^9/L; p<0.05), higher normal CRP rate (92.21% vs. 57.72%), lower IL-6 levels [5.28 (3.31, 8.13) vs. 9.10 (4.37, 15.14); p<0.05]. Upon admission, their COVID19 antibodies (IgM and IgG) and IgG in convalescence were lower [0.13 (0.00, 0.09) vs. 0.12 (0.03, 0.41), p<0.05; 0.02 (0.00, 0.14) vs. 1.94 (0.54, 6.40), p<0.05; 5.46 (2.41, 9.26) vs. 73.63 (54.63, 86.55), p<0.05, respectively], but longer NAN time (18 days vs. 16 days, p=0.13).ConclusionUnvaccinated children may be an important link in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 delta variant (B1.617.2), which indicated an urgent need of vaccination for this particular population.
Highlights
Since its outbreak in early 2020, Covid-19 has brought about a global pandemic, with a cumulative total of over 235,634,315 infections and a toll of tens of thousands of deaths (4,973,007 in total as of October 27, 2021)
Unvaccinated children may be an important link in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 delta variant (B1.617.2), which indicated an urgent need of vaccination for this particular population
The global launch of the vaccination against COVID-19 has been effective for the Delta variant, with Pfizer bioNTech reducing the symptomatic population from 94% to 64% and Oxford Astrazea from 73% to 60% (Baraniuk, 2021) and Moderna vaccine preventing 81% of hospitalizations and 76% of infections and Pfizer bioNTech (BNT162B2) vaccine reducing 75% of hospitalizations and 42% of infections (Grannis et al, 2021)
Summary
Since its outbreak in early 2020, Covid-19 has brought about a global pandemic, with a cumulative total of over 235,634,315 infections and a toll of tens of thousands of deaths (4,973,007 in total as of October 27, 2021). The CDC in the United States cautioned that people who had not been vaccinated would face an infection risk that was 11 times higher (Dyer, 2021b). All these findings suggested that the Covid-19 nucleic acid vaccination can provide effective protection from Delta variant infection and prevent it from developing into severe diseases. The protection against Delta variant was weaker than that against other mutant strains, which may result in breakthrough cases (Mlcochova et al, 2021), posing new challenges to the global efforts in containing the Covid-19 pandemic
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