The son of one already with that coronavirus infected Viennese couple was tested positive on Friday. However, the couple’s daughter is not infected. This increased the number of infected people to four on Friday. The children are adolescents, and the exact age is not known.
infectiologist Heinz Burgmann from the MedUni Vienna explains how dangerous that is coronavirus is for children.
KURIER: Are children and adolescents a special risk group?
Heinz Burgmann: Not at the current level of knowledge. Infants, children and adolescents get sick less often and the infections are milder. But children can do that virus potentially carry into the family and infect more vulnerable people, such as grandparents.
Is there any guess why this is so?
No, unfortunately you cannot say that yet. One only knows from the previous case descriptions that there are fewer infections and only one among the under-19-year-olds death gave that to that coronavirus declining.
How can you explain to children how to behave in the current situation?
The bottom line is that the same rules of conduct apply to seasonal flu. It is essential that the children infection route know – how the droplets that get on the hands or in the air when coughing or sneezing can make people sick. Then it’s about getting them used to a certain sneeze label. That includes sneezing into the handkerchief or, if necessary, into the crook of the arm – and of course washing your hands regularly. These are not difficult or corona-specific measures, but behaviors that generally serve to prevent infectious diseases.
Are small children at greater risk because they have a different understanding of hygiene – for example licking their hands or putting a lot in their mouths?
The fact that toddlers do not strictly adhere to hygiene measures is certainly one reason why they are generally more often infected with infectious diseases. On the other hand, adults can also access an immune system that has already been tried and tested in dealing with certain pathogens. So there is a certain level of self-protection that is still lacking in young children. Unless there are diseases against which effective vaccines exist.
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