If one might believe that a baby who is often sick strengthens his immune system, a study from the journal Jama tends to demonstrate the opposite. Indeed, babies who exceed a certain number of infections in their first three years of life tend to be sicker throughout the rest of their childhood.
You have probably already thought, or heard that children who are often sick, especially in daycare, strengthen their immune system for later. But according to a study carried out in the journal Jama, it is quite the opposite. The latter listed ear infections, colds and other gastroenteritis, as well as each antibiotic intake in more than 600 children from birth to 13 years old.
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16 infections between birth and 3 years
And according to researchers, babies who had more than 16 infections between birth and age 3 are sick more frequently throughout the rest of their childhood and take more antibiotics. How to explain it? Researchers have several hypotheses, including that of nature: there are children more fragile than others. Another avenue is that of early infections which would make the immune system weaker.
-“We know that children who have recurrent ear infections respond less well to vaccines than those who do not have recurrent infections. As if early infections were likely to reduce general immunity”, explains to the microphone of Europe 1 Professor Robert Cohen, pediatrician and infectious disease specialist.
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According to him, the child’s immune system begins to mature from the age of two. This is why you should avoid even small colds for your toddlers as much as possible.
