Sun

Covid-19 October 2021 Update

Oct 3, 2021 – Dr. Paul

Almost 2000 kids were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the U.S. two weeks ago, a 500% increase in the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations for children since early July, according to CDC data. While new cases are still quite high Florida, we are beginning to see a plateau, possibly a decrease, in new cases. This heralds another waning of this phase of the pandemic. The consensus by experts at this time is that precautions should remain in place for now, as transmission remains high due to the Delta variant. As new information emerges, it seems the Moderna vaccine has the best efficacy against this strain. Here is a link to the projections:

https://covid19scenariomodelinghub.org/index.html

The vaccine safety profiles remain good. Reuters (9/22) reports, “Monday’s announcement from Pfizer and BioNTech that a low dose of their coronavirus vaccine proved safe and effective for children ages 5 to 11 in a clinical trial has come as a relief to many parents anxiously awaiting the chance to protect their children,” but “some parents have expressed hesitancy about the vaccine for their young children, citing the lack of large-scale studies and long-term data on its effects on that population.” Approximately “four in 10 parents of children ages 5 to 11 said they would ‘wait and see’ how the vaccine worked before giving it to their kids, according to polling data published by the Kaiser Family Foundation in August,” while “one-quarter said they would ‘definitely not’ get their children vaccinated” and “another quarter said they would do so ‘right away.’” Sean O’Leary, vice chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ infectious diseases committee, “said there is no reason to expect the vaccine to pose any particular risk for younger children.” He added, “These vaccines have probably been evaluated for safety better than any other medicine in history.”

The extraordinarily rare cases of heart inflammation noticed several months ago in boys and young men have turned out to be not only uncommon, but also mild, many not requiring treatment. We are waiting for final approval of EUA for childhood (5-12) covid vaccination.

The number of vaccinated persons in the state of Florida seems to have slowed. The percentage of those who are eligible and fully vaccinated is at 58% somewhat higher for the partially vaccinated. I would ask any of you who have eligible children to at least consider it. Here is a link that addresses some misconceptions of the vaccine:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/facts.html

Here is our local county information on how to access the vaccine:

https://www.hcdpbc.org/resources/covid-19/covid-19

Although it is true that most children fare COVID-19 infections well, the virus can cause fever, headache, chest, muscle and abdominal pain, diarrhea, poor feeding in infants, weight loss, respiratory distress and other serious symptoms. It can also cause Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children(MIS-C) and I have spoken with local colleagues in the pediatric ICU care who have cared for these very sick kids. I have in my own practice had 3 patients hospitalized (one in the ICU) with COVID-19 infection.

We continue to proceed cautiously with our office procedures and scheduling:

  • Booking well visits from 9-11 am and 2-4 pm.This leaves us time to see sick children later in the mornings and afternoons, entering from the back door. We will continue working in full protective gear for children with fever and/or respiratory symptoms.

  • We try our best to have only one or two families inside the office at a time, which is at times difficult if patients are running late or if a visit takes longer than expected. With this in mind, we ask you to please be on time; we also will do our best to run on time.

  • We ask that you try to keep space between yourselves and other families that you may encounter in our office, and always wear your masks until cleared within the exam room. If you have been vaccinated, we still ask you to wear your masks, which we can provide to you if needed.

  • We continue to aggressively do surface sanitation between each visit and air sanitation through the day.

  • When you drive up to the back of the building for a sick visit, find a parking space in the back, and call us. You will be asked to wait until we call you to come in. Once we call you in, we will open the back door for you to come inside the back entrance.

    • As a reminder, we answer our emails as time permits during the day. Please remember that email is not for urgent matters. Virtual visits at doxy.me/bocachild are scheduled throughout the day as needed. These virtual appointments must be scheduled ahead of time by phone with our staff.

    We are able to offer COVID-19 PCR swabs; turnaround times have been 1-2 days. Any testing or vaccinations that are done outside our office, we ask that you share the results/dates with us by email or phone. Testing is also available for Flu and RSV. Even though we are alI suffering from “mask fatigue,” I would encourage a renewed enthusiasm for mask use in indoor settings.

    Warm regards,

    Doctor Paul

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