Seven days in medicine: 1-7 September 2021
BMJ 2021; 374 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n2188 (Published 09 September 2021) Cite this as: BMJ 2021;374:n2188
Covid-19
One in seven children may have lasting symptoms
A large study of children and young people who caught SARS-CoV-2 found that as many as one in seven (14%) may still have symptoms 15 weeks later.1 But this figure is lower than the results of some studies, which have reported a prevalence of long covid in children and young people as high as 51%. The lead author, Terence Stephenson of the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, UK, said, “It is reassuring that the figures were lower than the worst case scenarios predicted last December. However, they are not of trivial importance.” (Full story doi:10.1136/bmj.n2157)
Third vaccine dose for severely immunosuppressed people
The UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation recommended that people aged over 12 with severely weakened immune systems should have a third vaccine dose as part of their primary vaccination schedule against covid-19, including those with leukaemia or advanced HIV or who recently received an organ transplant. The committee did not recommend covid-19 vaccination for all young people aged 12-15 and instead asked ministers to seek further advice from the UK’s chief medical officers on the wider potential benefits of vaccination. (Full stories doi:10.1136/bmj.n2160; doi:10.1136/bmj.n2180)
Vaccines prevented 143 000 admissions in England
Public …