The fever is high. And it stays high, one day, two days, on the third it’s still no better. Anyone who has experienced for themselves how incredibly helpless a mother or father stands next to a bed with a sick or even feverish baby can imagine what must happen to parents who experience this in these times. In which omicron infections make the rounds without regard to vaccination or recovery or denial status. Lisa Mönckert from Ebersberg experienced exactly that. Her youngest daughter was three months old when she showed the first signs of infection, high fever “and you could tell that she had body aches”. Other mothers of infants have reported very similar things since the appearance of the latest corona variant.
The pediatrician Kampouridis observed high fever but little cough in omicron infections
“High fever, but less cough than Delta’s,” was the observation of pediatrician Lampros Kampouridis, even though, as he emphasizes, the number of children who came to his Baldham practice was not excessive. He also didn’t have to admit a child, he reports. Lisa Mönckert’s little daughter is now healthy again.
The fact that babies, who should actually be under nest protection, develop corona infections at all is completely natural, explains the doctor. Maternal nest protection can only include infections with pathogens the mother came into contact with before or during pregnancy and against which she had built up antibodies. The antibodies produced in the mother, i.e. her immunity, would then be passed on to the child via the umbilical cord and placenta. The lifespan is around three to six months, and nest protection is assumed to last that long. During this time, the child begins to build up its own immunity – which is why the first vaccinations, such as against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough, are recommended as basic immunization for this period. “In the case of whooping cough, there is no nest protection, so you vaccinate against it very early,” adds the doctor.
When vaccinating small children, she would plead for an intensive cost-benefit analysis, says a doctor
There is currently no immunization for children under the age of five against corona because there is no approved vaccine available for this age group. According to media reports, Biontech/Pfizer expects results from a vaccination study with three vaccinations and one tenth of the adult dosage for the beginning of April, then the situation could change. In any case, she would plead for an intensive cost-benefit analysis even if it were approved and recommended for such small children, explains a doctor from the Ebersberg district. Especially since the infections in small children are usually not much worse than a flu infection, for which a high fever can also be a symptom, says the doctor, who does not want her name to be mentioned in the newspaper for fear of radical opponents of vaccination .
But if the mother is vaccinated, the doctor continues, then she transfers her immune protection to the infant just as she does in the case of a previous infection. And not just through the umbilical cord, but also through breast milk, explains pediatrician Kampouridis. “Breastfeeding protects the mucous membranes.” An advantage that cannot be dismissed out of hand in view of the rare but possible consequences of a corona infection.
Long Covid is suspected in very young children but difficult to prove
Long Covid, that late effect of an infection that is associated with constant tiredness and a lack of productivity, is just one of the consequences that an infection can also have for children. As rare as it is according to studies, she has seen young people “completely dismantled,” says the doctor, who is a mother herself. She reports on a 15-year-old teenager, “high-performing and ambitious”, who fell ill six weeks after an infection, suffered from raging headaches, flare-ups of fever and constant stomach pains, and was hardly able to concentrate on exams. It was only after half a year that she was healthy again. Like the so-called Pims (Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome), which is associated with Covid infections, Long Covid tends to affect older children. The occurrence of Long Covid is suspected in very small children, but hard facts are difficult to collect.
The Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (DGPI) has listed 720 cases of Pims in children since May 2020. According to the DGPI, there were no deaths, the mostly male children were released from the hospital after mostly intensive medical treatment, but they often suffered from high fever, conjunctivitis, vomiting and diarrhea, skin rashes or myocarditis. If left untreated, the symptom can lead to multi-organ failure. However, neither of the doctors interviewed was able to report any cases in their practice.
In general, pediatrician Kampouridis advises not to go too much among people with infants
In principle, pediatrician Kampouridis advises not to go among people too often, especially with infants, and above all not to visit the sick. “In general, you should keep the contact time as short as possible.” Both doctors strongly recommend vaccination of the mothers, which now corresponds to the RKI recommendation. Ideally, before a possible pregnancy, or after the second trimester of pregnancy – with regard to herd immunity, but also to protect the pregnant women themselves, who often have severe courses in the event of an illness, according to the doctor.
In the case of the omicron variant, the vaccination does not reliably protect against infection – not even the children of vaccinated pregnant women, Kampouridis explains in view of the criticism repeatedly expressed by opponents of vaccination that no vaccination protects 100 percent from it, “but it minimizes the risk hard to get sick”.