Primary schools are already turning out to be a hotbed of corona infections. But according to pediatrician and epidemiologist Patricia Bruijning, it is no longer necessary to send entire classes home. “Now that much of the population has been vaccinated, the perspective has changed,” she explains in NRC.
“Certainly for children, the risks of infection are not that great, we know after a year and a half of experience and research. With a few exceptions, think of it as a cold.” The flu is worse: “We must also remember that children do get infectious diseases. This builds up resistance. Every year 250 children are hospitalized with chickenpox. Don’t hear anyone about it. Or take the house, garden and kitchen flu: every year 1,500 children get so sick that they end up in hospital. However, we do not think it is necessary to vaccinate all children against the flu. To my knowledge, a class has never been sent home because of the flu.”
How many children ended up in hospital because of Covid? “Since the start of the epidemic, a few hundred children under the age of twelve have been affected in the Netherlands. It is of course terrible for those who are affected, but if you compare it to chickenpox or the flu, then there are really few.”
Bruijning believes that we no longer need to take measures to prevent infections in children. “Not everyone agrees. There is still a lot of fear, and rightly so, Covid-19 is a terrible disease. But when it comes to healthy young children, I say let them build natural immunity. This is possible, with exceptions, without unscathed.”
