Benefits and a non-existent risk
With the help of an adapted ODDS ratio, the researchers discovered that vaccination reduced the chance of long COVID by one or more symptoms by 57 percent and reduced the chance of developing long COVID by two or more symptoms by 73 percent. Vaccination prior to infection was also linked to a reduction in the risk of 75 percent on the development of long COVID that influenced daily functioning. The authors note that the estimates of protection are likely to be underestimated because the calculations do not take into account the fact that vaccination prevented some children from being infected in the first place.
“Our findings suggest that children must stay informed of the current COVID-19-vaccination recommendations, because vaccination not only protects against severe COVID-19 disease, but also protects against [long Covid]”The authors conclude.
In a second short report in Jama Network open, researchers have taken the concern that the vaccines could cause sudden cardiac arrest or sudden heart death in young athletes. This is an unproven claim that was fed by proponents of anti-vaccination in the midst of the pandemic, including the new American health secretary and long-term anti-vaccine lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Although earlier analyzes have not found a connection between COVID-19 vaccines and sudden heart deaths, the new study has been given a broader approach. The study, led by researchers from the University of Washington, looked at whether the number of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and sudden cardiac deaths (SCD) under young athletes changed during the pandemic (2020-2022) compared to previous years ((2017-2019 ) The researchers attracted records of the National Center for Catastrophic Sports. Medical files and autopsy reports on cases among competitive athletes of youth, secondary school, secondary school, club, university or professional levels that experienced sudden cardiac arrest or death at any time.
In total there were 387 cases, without a statistically significant difference in the number of cases in the years prior to the Pandemie (203) compared to those during the Pandemie (184).
“This cohort study found no increase in SCA/SCD in young competitive athletes in the US during the COVID-19 Pandemie, which suggests that reports that say otherwise, the cardiovascular risk of COVID-19 infection, vaccination and myocarditis overestimate,” conclude The authors.
