The FDA has approved a COVID-19 treatment for young children. The pandemic has been going on for more than 2 years, and while many thought that this would be over by now, there are still cases all over the US and the world. While the world has returned to “normal,” with the dropping of mandates, it is only expected to see more cases. The new variant, Omicron, is having a larger impact on children than the previous strains did, and even if a child is vaccinated, they are still vulnerable to the illness. It would likely be a milder case, and would not require hospitalizations.
However, children are still getting ill from the virus, and this means that the medical world needs a treatment plan. According to Medical Xpress, the FDA has approved a COVID-19 treatment for young children. The FDA made the announcement on its website, and it can be viewed here.
This will be the first COVID-19 treatment for use in children. The FDA has approved the antiviral Remdesivir in young children. Before this point, this medication was only to be given to this age group under authorization. The FDA has now put its official approval stamp on the treatment.
This medication was already fully approved for those over 12 years old, but now it is available for younger children as well. What that means is that now, doctors who are treating young children with COVID-19 can prescribe the medication. The importance of this treatment cannot be stated enough, as experts note that vaccination rates remain low in young children, and there is not an approved vaccine for toddlers and children younger than 5. This means that they needed to have a treatment plan for the children who do catch the virus and get seriously ill.
Medical experts are stating that this new treatment can help reduce the symptoms of the virus and help children recover a lot quicker. It will also cut the hospitalization rates, and make sure that fewer children end up in the hospital with the virus. However, they also stated that this should not be relied on in place of the vaccine and that it is still strongly encouraged that parents get their children vaccinated.
The vaccine continues to be the best, and safest, option for protecting children against serious illness. If given the medication, a child would need to take it for 10 days and all results of clinical trials were similar to those in the adult trials.
Sources: Medical Xpress, FDA