On behalf of paediatricians in Germany, a medical professor from Tübingen called for not restricting children too much.
Schools should remain open, according to the expert.
Tübingen / Berlin - While the infection process in Germany is currently picking up speed again, politicians and doctors are almost continuously discussing new measures.
Some call for a hard lockdown immediately - a Ludwigsburg clinic boss even said that it was already "five past twelve" (BW24 * reported).
The situation is serious, now numerous clinics have to postpone surgery appointments due to the corona chaos *.
In view of the dramatic developments, the question arises: How can it be that schools and kindergartens reopen, even though so many people meet there every day?
The Vice President of the German Society for Child and Adolescent Medicine (DGKJ), Ingeborg Krägeloh-Mann from Tübingen, gives answers.
"In contrast to adults or adolescents, one should evaluate smaller children differently," demands the Tübingen medical professor in an interview with the
German Press Agency (dpa)
.
The younger children are probably less involved in the infection process "and more dependent on classroom teaching".
According to the findings of the DGKJ and the Professional Association of Pediatricians (BVKJ) as well as other experts, children and adolescents currently do not contribute more to the infection process than other age groups, according to the expert.
How high is the risk of corona infection in children?
Experts think: low
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the political debate has repeatedly been about the role of children as possible drivers of infection.
A joint study by various universities in Baden-Württemberg found answers to the question of how high the corona risk really is in children *.
Similar to other studies on this topic, the experts came to the conclusion that younger children in particular probably only play a subordinate role in the transmission of the coronavirus.
"School closings should really be the last option," says Tübingen doctor Ingeborg Krägeloh-Mann.
Before doing this, all other possibilities should be exhausted in order to reduce contacts in the entire population.
According to Krägeloh-Mann, the currently increasing numbers of corona cases recorded in the age group of children are due to an increase in the number of tests.
This would mean more cases from the unreported number compared to before.
School closings due to Corona: a doctor advises weighing up the benefits and harms
The expert also recommends “carefully weighing the benefits and harms” when schools are closed.
Studies have shown that the proportion of children with depressive moods or psychosomatic disorders increased during lockdown.
Some parents also find that the measures go too far for their children.
In Baden-Württemberg, for example, thousands of parents are resisting the mask requirement for children *.
They see a danger for the development of the children, as some of them cannot breathe well - and they can no longer correctly interpret and classify the facial expressions of others.
*
BW24
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