How dangerous is the coronavirus for children really?
Experts are now evaluating data that have been collected since March last year - with an interesting result.
Munich - Corona infections * in children: even after a pandemic for over a year, many questions remain unanswered.
A study by the German Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (DGPI) and the German Society for Hospital Hygiene (DGKH) has now shown how dangerous the virus can be for children.
Since the beginning of the corona pandemic *, data has been evaluated by experts.
The result: Children have a very low risk of being hospitalized because of a corona infection or of dying as a result of the infection.
Coronavirus: Virologist talks about diseases in children
"Of 14 million children and adolescents in Germany, around 1200 were treated with a SARS-CoV-2 * infection in hospital (<0.01%) and four died of their infection (<0.00002%)," says the DGPI statement.
But are corona infections to be taken less seriously in children?
Virologist Dr.
Martin Stürmer, specialist in microbiology and lecturer in virology at the University of Frankfurt, classified the statements in relation to the
picture
.
“Children can become infected and infect others.
It is important and correct to know that children are less likely to be affected by serious illnesses.
However, you can carry the virus to more vulnerable groups such as parents or grandparents, ”said the expert.
Corona in children: infectiologists calculate true risk - flu comparison surprised
The DGPI and DGKH do not want to downplay corona diseases in children * in any way.
Every case of a seriously ill or deceased child is "one case too many and an unbearable individual fate for the child and family".
However, the observations made since the pandemic should "take parents too seriously concerned about a serious course of the disease in their children," says the DGPI statement.
Society classifies deaths from corona infection as very low compared to other causes of death.
In the 2018/19 flu wave, influenza was reported as the cause of death in a total of 116 children.
According to the DGPI register, four children who were hospitalized as inpatients have died of a corona infection since March 17, 2020
(see above).
Corona infections but also dangerous for children
However, corona infections can also be severe in children.
Long-term effects that occur after corona infections, such as PIMS (Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome) *, could also be dangerous for children.
Dr.
Martin striker is over the
image
one more point to consider: "From virological point of view it is irrelevant how run the infections in each age group, for us it is important that the infection chains are broken." (
Nema
)
(* Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA)
Meanwhile in Germany: Corona vaccinations for everyone already "at the end of May"?
The prioritization should be canceled.
List of rubric lists: © Jörg Carstensen / dpa