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Less than a week before the start of the school year, parents and teachers are not the only ones to be worried. Pediatricians have also sounded the alarm bells on the coronavirus. In an open letter published at the end of August, seven learned pediatric societies advocate in particular an increased vaccination against influenza and gastroenteritis to more easily detect a possible case of Covid-19. A recommendation that Marjorie, 38, listener of Europe 1 does not understand, since the link between these three pathologies is not obvious. In "Without Rendezvous" this Wednesday, doctor Jimmy Mohamed brings him some details.
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Similarity of symptoms
“The return to school will be explosive,” the specialist immediately advances. "Not only because of the coronavirus, but also with the return of winter diseases such as gastroenteritis and the flu." What is the relationship between these three diseases? The similarity of symptoms. "In 15% to 30% of cases of coronavirus in children, there are digestive signs," he recalls. Concretely, as soon as your child has "the temperature, that he will cough, vomit or have diarrhea, you will be asked to go to the doctor who will prescribe a test".
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Less reliable PCR tests in children
But doing this test raises several questions, according to Jimmy Mohamed. First, there is acceptability: a PCR test is an unpleasant time, and if an adult can bypass it, it can be difficult for a child. It also has a cost, "around fifty euros per test. Imagine what that represents when you do 500,000 a week", comments the doctor. Without forgetting that "the performance of PCRs is not very good on our blond heads: the tests turn out to be less positive than in an adult, even though they are positive".
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In the event of symptoms, if a child is vaccinated, this will therefore allow the medical profession to proceed by elimination and more easily detect a probable case of coronavirus. But taking these precautions will also allow "to free up a little town medicine practices and emergency services", Jimmy Mohamed says. "Every year children are hospitalized with gastroenteritis and the flu. Protecting them from these diseases may help prevent bottlenecks in the system."