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Due to the pandemic, there is a risk of a wave of infections in some children's diseases

According to the Barmer, as a result of the corona pandemic, children are threatened with a wave of infections with some diseases such as scarlet fever.

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Due to the pandemic, there is a risk of a wave of infections in some children's diseases

According to the Barmer, as a result of the corona pandemic, children are threatened with a wave of infections with some diseases such as scarlet fever. During the pandemic, the usual wave of scarlet fever in the daycare centers almost didn't occur, which is now leading to an intensive catch-up effect on the now older school children, the health insurance company wrote in its so-called doctor's report published in Berlin on Tuesday. They were threatened with “extraordinarily difficult courses”.

According to the analysis, around 235,000 children in Germany were infected with scarlet fever in 2019, and in 2021 there were just under 25,200. This corresponds to a drop of a good 90 percent. Ringworm also fell by 81 percent and chickenpox by 64 percent during the period, although there is a vaccination against chickenpox.

On the other hand, the frequency of the so-called three-day fever seems to have been hardly influenced by the pandemic. Hand, foot and mouth disease is therefore an exception. In the last quarter of 2022, more children fell ill than in the entire period since 2005.

People can become infected with it several times, even in adulthood. Hand, foot and mouth disease caused by a virus causes a rash in the mouth, palms and soles of the feet, but other parts of the body can also be affected.

According to the report, it cannot be ruled out that, despite the already high number of cases, there could be a catch-up effect similar to that of scarlet fever after the end of contact restrictions.

"Children are the big losers in the corona pandemic," explained Barmer boss Christoph Straub. "They suffered from many deprivations and today they bear the consequences for their health."

An impending wave of scarlet fever in school children is just one example. Straub called for evidence-based concepts that could serve as a kind of blueprint for future pandemics.

An analysis of the entire medical care for children and adolescents shows that the adolescents received similar care during the pandemic as before. Of the more than eleven million children in Germany in 2021, almost 94 percent received outpatient medical treatment at least once.

Before the pandemic, it was around 95 percent. In the case of infants and small children up to the age of four, 99 percent of all children were receiving medical treatment.

"Aha! Ten minutes of everyday knowledge" is WELT's knowledge podcast. Every Tuesday and Thursday we answer everyday questions from the field of science. Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Deezer, Amazon Music, among others, or directly via RSS feed.

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