The expert Daniel Vilser warns that the long-Covid consequences in children are currently underestimated.
Thousands of children in Germany could be affected - and the number is rising.
Jena - "From my point of view, the [situation] is still clearly underestimated," says the Long Covid expert at Jena University Hospital, Daniel Vilser, in an interview with the
Tagesschau
about the Long Covid consequences in children
.
The pediatrician set up the first Germany-wide long-covid ambulance at the Jena University Hospital and experiences children and young people with long-term corona consequences every day.
At the beginning it was seen that older people in particular fell seriously ill with Corona.
The conviction has established itself in people's minds that children are not badly affected.
The acute infection is still to be assessed as mild in children, but the long-term consequences definitely play a role, notes Vilser.
"Children also suffer a lot from the so-called fatigue syndrome, that is, reduced resilience," the expert continues.
Symptoms are headache, stomach ache, concentration and sleep problems.
"I hope we won't be as surprised as last year."
The head of the children's # LongCovid ambulance at @UKJ_Jena, Daniel Vilser, warns of long-term #Corona consequences and hopes for good protection concepts in schools.
#tagesthemen (red) pic.twitter.com/gUBaC1PL5F
- Tagesthemen (@tagesthemen) July 9, 2021
Long-Covid in children: these are the difficulties of a diagnosis
“Of course it's more difficult to be heard as a child,” warns the doctor.
In addition, the symptoms of Long Covid would also occur in other diseases.
There are also psychosomatic illnesses with similar symptoms.
"The children are conspicuous in droves, just because of the lockdown," reports the expert.
Separating somatic and psychosomatic causes is a great challenge.
For this purpose, a detailed diagnosis is made in the Long Covid ambulance, examining the heart, lungs, abdomen and blood.
In addition, a precise psychological test is carried out to rule out that the symptoms are not due to a psychosomatic illness that requires another treatment path.
Long-Covid: The number of affected children will increase
How many children in Germany are affected cannot be precisely quantified at the moment: “There are currently no exact figures for Germany,” says Daniel Vilser, the head of the Long Covid outpatient clinic at the Jena University Hospital of the
Tagesschau
.
Current figures come from Great Britain.
Around 30,000 children there suffer from Long Covid, according to information from the national statistics institute.
“One can assume that there will be no fewer in Germany,” says Vilser, assessing the situation.
These figures do not yet reflect a differentiation between severe and mild cases.
The expert points out that serious cases are significantly less common.
"The more children are infected, the more long-term consequences we will see," estimates the head of the Covid outpatient clinic in Jena.
Over the next year or two there are only two options: Either you get vaccinated or you got the infection.
In the long run you will not be able to avoid either of the two.
Vaccinations for children?
"Reliable figures are currently lacking"
"If we stick to the fact that we say: Children are not vaccinated, at least the long-term consequences will not decrease", is Vilser's prognosis for the future.
When asked whether he hoped for a vaccination recommendation from the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) soon, the doctor replied: "I hope that we will get solid data on the basis of which the STIKO can then make a recommendation."
The problem is currently not that the STIKO says it considers vaccination for children to be unsafe.
"The problem is that she does not yet have enough data to really be absolutely sure that the vaccination can be recommended to all children." With regard to everyday school life after the summer holidays, one must expect that the number of infections would rise again, because the students are not vaccinated.
Reasonable concepts are needed, demands the doctor and, at the end, warns: "I very much hope that we will not be as surprised as we were last year."
Vaccination for children: factual discussion on the subject is often difficult
The subject of vaccinations for children is hotly debated in public. An exchange of arguments would be productive, but the debate is often less factual and more emotional. The doctor Dr. Christian Kröner, for example, offers vaccinations for children in his practice and therefore receives death threats and insults. An argument of his critics: The doctor disregards a recommendation of the STIKO with his vaccination offer. The facts are different, as a look at the recommendations of the STIKO reveals: The vaccination commission explicitly recommends vaccination for children and adolescents aged 12 to 17 years with previous illnesses. However, there is no warning for vaccinations of children without previous illnesses - nor is there a specific recommendation.This decision is left to everyone - and perhaps that is why it is so controversial.