Firstly I am a mum of 3 secondary school kids all of whom have lost a term of education in spite of the efforts of the school to send them lessons remotely and our parental efforts to school them in a nice middle class home where they had access to laptops, study space and WiFi. Its not easy and it makes for an inferior learning and social experience. Of course if I thought they were in danger or their teachers were in danger of mass illness and/ deaths then all of this would be a necessary sacrifice. But evidence from actual schools in countries where the schools operated normally as opposed to merely assuming that kids are super spreaders or theoretically could be super spreaders, is safetyism gone mad. Please don't say that is it lives versus livelihoods. If you've seen a post industrial Northern town that's lost its economic heart you will know that is a false dichotomy.
We cannot make it completely safe for all teachers but we can mitigate the risk for the tiny minority that need it surely?
Remember that the hypothetical models generated by Ferguson got it wrong by a huge magnitude including in Sweden where no schools got locked down so why base your fear and anxiety on theories about transmission when there is now real data?
EVIDENCE SUMMARY OF PAEDIATRIC COVID-19 LITERATURE
Alison Boast, Alasdair Munro + Henry Goldstein
Here we present the top 10 papers from each category (Paediatric clinical cases, Epidemiology and transmission, and Neonates). At the top is an Executive summary followed by all New and noteworthy studies.
Executive Summary (Updated 17th July) by Dr Munroe (Royal College of Pediatricians & Child Health)
Epidemiology
Around the world, children make up a minority of confirmed cases of COVID-19, usually contributing to between 1 – 5% of total case numbers. This almost certainly represents some undercounting of children in total case numbers as many countries have focussed on testing the most unwell, but in some populations which undertook widespread population testing, children still account for very low case numbers. Countries which have produced representative population seroprevalence studies (including Switzerland, Spain and Italy) have found proportionately far fewer children have been infected than adults (young children <10 years in particular).
More detailed information has emerged into childhood severity of COVID-19. A large number of children may be asymptomatic, but the true proportion is unknown. Critical illness is very rare (~1%). In data from China, the USA and Europe, infants and older adolescents appear most likely to be hospitalised and to suffer from more severe disease. Deaths in children remain extremely rare from COVID-19.
Transmission
Precise details regarding paediatric transmission are still being ascertained, however important trends are emerging. Low case numbers in children suggest a more limited role than was initially feared. Contact tracing data from Asia, the USA, Europe and Israel have all demonstrated a significantly lower attack rate in children than adults, including testing of asymptomatic household contacts on both PCR and serology. Coupled with low case numbers would suggest that children are less likely to acquire the disease. The role of children in passing the disease to others is unknown, in particular given unknown numbers of asymptomatic cases. Notably, the China/WHO joint commission could not recall episodes during contact tracing where transmission occurred from a child to an adult. Studies of multiple family clusters have revealed children were unlikely to be the index case, in Guangzhou, China, Israel, the USA, Switzerland and internationally. Limited data on positive cases in schools have not demonstrated significant transmission, except within adolescent populations. Studies of younger children in schools have found low rates of transmission, but with very low case numbers.
Several studies have now shown that SARS-CoV-2 can be detected by PCR in the stool of affected children for several weeks after symptoms have resolved. Studies have confirmed there can also be live virus found in the stool of infected individuals. How much virus is present, and the extent to which faecal-oral transmission may be possible is yet to be confirmed.
