An Urgent Letter to the American Academy of Pediatrics and All Pediatricians: On The 2020 Influenza Vaccine During The COVID-19 Pandemic.
Honorable Dr. Goza and members of the American Academy of Pediatrics,
I write this open letter to the Academy for the record and on Mother’s Day 2020 — in defense of all their children.
Specifically I write here to warn your community of pediatrician leaders and clinicians of a potential high morbidity/mortality risk associated with activation of COVID-19 disease in young asymptomatic SARS-CoV2 carriers this coming Fall 2020.
As you know, millions of Americans (and many more globally) will be receiving the Influenza Vaccine, as per CDC guidelines, in the Fall and early winter of 2020. This guideline may appear to be sound clinical judgement since it would be a terrible scenario if an Influenza epidemic is superimposed on the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, I write here to warn extreme caution in considering liberal delivery of the 2020 Influenza vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic — especially in the pediatric population.
Specifically, because the subclinical presence of SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic carriers is a well documented fact, and particularly in younger and pediatric patients, it is of critical importance for the AAP to work closely with FDA and CDC to determine whether the 2020 Influenza vaccine might trigger activation of COVID-19 disease in children, adolescents and young adults
In the following opinion article, I’ve delineated the serious concern, specifically regarding children and young adults, in a manner accessible to the general public:
I trust that the AAP membership fully understand the basic immunological principle of “bystander immunological activation”, which is operational in both the laboratory setting and clinical diseases — with some very clear example from the basic science and clinical literature.
Therefore, in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic when, by Fall 2020, millions of American children will certainly be asymptomatic carriers of the SARS-CoV-2 virus , it is ABSOLUTELY necessary for the pediatric population to be protected from the potential for iatrogenic COVID-19 disease activation through a “bystander” effect from the 2020 Influenza vaccine. This risk is NOT theoretical as you know — with many clinical examples of disease activation following iatrogenic vaccination. In the Fall 2020 iatrogenic activation of COVID-19 disease from the planned large scale Influenza vaccinations in American children could become catastrophic.
With this public email, I ask that the AAP and every practicing pediatrician in the US and abroad, immediately move to determine whether a dangerous pathogenic interaction between the Influenza vaccine and the SARS-CoV-2 virus might occur — or to mitigate against the possibility.
My respectful suggestion for mitigation, at minimum, is that the 2020 Influenza vaccine ONLY be administered to children, adolescents and young adults whose SARS-CoV-2 antigen screen is negative.
I trust that you will take the content of this letter of warning to the Academy and its members seriously. I ask that you immediately engage the CDC and FDA to address the potential dangerous interaction between the 2020 Influenza vaccine and the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
With respect,
Hooman Noorchashm MD, PhD.
noorchashm@gmail.com
