What signs require hospitalization of children after Covid-19 vaccination?

The Ministry of Health has provided instructions on post-vaccination health monitoring for children aged 12 to 17. Accordingly, children need to be monitored for 28 days after vaccination, especially the first 7 days.

Contact emergency or mobile health station if your child has the following symptoms: numbness around the lips or tongue in the mouth; skin rash or red rash or purple or red skin, bleeding, bleeding under the skin; itchy, tight feeling in the throat, choking, difficulty speaking.

Neurologically, children have symptoms of prolonged or severe headaches, lethargy, drowsiness, confusion, coma, convulsions; cardiovascular symptoms include chest pain, anxiety, prolonged palpitations, and fainting. Digestively, children have signs of vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, or respiratory difficulties, wheezing, and cyanosis.

General signs: the child is dizzy, lightheaded, feels like falling, is unusually tired or has unusually severe pain in one or more places not caused by collision or trauma. The child has a high fever of over 39 degrees Celsius that does not respond to antipyretics and needs to contact a doctor.

Covid-19 vaccination for high school students. Photo: Duc Anh

The Ministry of Health also issued some notes, there must always be someone to support 24/7, at least three days after the injection. Do not drink alcohol or stimulants, especially after the first three days after the injection. Children must be guaranteed adequate nutrition. If there is swelling, redness, pain, or a small lump at the injection site, continue to monitor, if the swelling gets bigger quickly, see a doctor immediately. Do not apply, compress, or cover anything on the swollen and painful area.

Regularly measure body temperature. If fever is below 38.5 degrees Celsius, remove or loosen clothing, apply a warm compress or wipe the forehead, armpits, groin, drink enough water to avoid catching a cold, and re-measure the temperature after 30 minutes. If the child has a fever of 38.5 degrees or higher, use fever-reducing medicine as directed by medical staff. If the fever does not go down or returns within 2 hours, notify medical staff immediately and go to the nearest medical facility.

About notes for children afterCovid-19 vaccination, Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Thi Hong, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Deputy Head of the Expanded Immunization Program Executive Board also emphasized that for at least the first 3 days after vaccination, children should not be allowed to run, jump, or participate in excessive sports activities.

Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Thi Hong said that an unwanted reaction in children after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine has been recorded in some countries as myocarditis.

“After the injection, children who are active will put more pressure on the heart, and myocarditis symptoms may become more severe if they unfortunately experience this side effect. According to statistics so far, myocarditis occurs more often in the second injection and occurs more in boys than in girls,” Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Thi Hong explained. However, Ms. Hong also emphasized that this is a very rare reaction./.