The acute corona infection is usually harmless for children, experts emphasize. Why did the Covid-19 curve on children’s intensive care units still go up steeply in November?
According to the Divi Intensive Register, the number of corona cases in children’s intensive care units in Germany increased significantly in November, albeit at a low level.
However, experts give the all-clear: “Most of these children are being treated for other diseases and have no Covid 19 symptoms,” said pediatric intensive care doctor Florian Hoffmann of the German press agency. He is Secretary General of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (Divi) and senior physician at the Dr. von Haunersche Children’s Hospital in Munich.
On Wednesday, the Divi intensive care registry showed a total of 22 corona cases treated at the same time in children’s intensive care units. On November 27, the number had risen to 30 from 5 at the beginning of the month. It is the highest deflection in the curve since April 2020. At the beginning of the pandemic, however, according to Divi information, not all reporting areas were registered in the register.
“It is and will remain that way: Children are not badly affected by Covid-19,” said Hoffmann. The additional corona infection of the children can be detected, for example, during routine tests in the hospital. The increased numbers on children’s intensive care units reflected the current very wide spread of the Sars-2 coronavirus in the entire population, said Hoffmann. The small patients also include newborns who were infected by the mother and who are first observed as a precautionary measure.
It is still very rare individual cases when previously ill children are intubated and ventilated because of Covid-19, said Hoffmann. “The fact that a healthy person becomes seriously ill from a corona infection is an absolute rarity in children, in contrast to adults.”
“Our pandemic is RSV,” said Hoffmann. The abbreviation stands for the respiratory syncytial virus, which can cause severe pneumonia and is particularly dangerous for premature babies, infants and young children. There has been a big wave especially since October, but now the situation seems to have calmed down a bit, Hoffmann said.
The Covid-19 vaccination makes sense for the doctor despite the relative harmlessness of the disease in children: “The vaccination will enable children to have an unrestricted social life again.” Even if public life should be shut down in order to contain the pandemic – “the schools must definitely remain open,” said Hoffmann, referring to the collateral damage that has already been observed, which ranged up to suicide attempts.
Source From: Stern
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