COVID-19 was less common in schools with mask obligations

The CDC investigated the pediatric COVID-19 case rate from 520 counties where the mask rules were consistent in all schools and was applied to all students or not at all.

The CDC adjusted the findings to control child vaccination rates at this level, but excluded vaccination rates from teacher and school test data.

According to the survey results, there were an average of about 35 new pediatric cases per 100,000 children daily for two weeks in areas where masking was not required.

This is compared to about 16 new pediatric cases per 100,000 children per day in the county requiring masks at school.

Dr. Eric Shioe PenhaThe Global Health Director of Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, New York, told Healthline that delta variants are a potential factor in these findings.

“Delta has increased the infection of children,” he said. “There are higher levels of virus in respiratory secretions, which is a big difference in children compared to Alpha.”

“There is no doubt that counties without school mask requirements tend to have significantly higher transmissions than schools with mask requirements,” he said. Dr. Henry Bernstein, A pediatrician at the Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York.

He added that schools using masks and other non-pharmacological interventions have lower daily cases of pediatric COVID-19.

“Like school ventilation, proper cohorting, social distance, screening of symptomatic people, and most importantly, emphasizing the importance of vaccination,” he said.

According to a CDC study, school mask requirements are important in combination with other preventive strategies, including COVID-19 vaccination, to reduce COVID-19 infections in schools.

According to researchers, the findings have the following restrictions:

• this is Ecological study, A kind of observational study whose cause cannot be proved.
• According to the researchers, the number and number of cases of COVID-19 in children includes all cases in children and adolescents under the age of 18, and later analysis will focus on cases in school-age children and adolescents. Guess.
• County-level teacher vaccination rates and school test data were not controlled in the analysis conducted in future studies.
• The findings may not be generalized because they used small sample size counties for their analysis.

When asked what parents with children could do to protect them in a school that doesn’t need masks, Cioe-Peña advised: Move to the area that needs masking. Cover the children anyway. “

Bernstein said he needed to use “all the tools at his disposal.”

“I think teachers and other staff in the school need to be aware that children can be infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” he said.

He emphasized that children may suffer from symptomatic COVID-19 disease and eventually require hospitalization, “children also Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C).. “

According to Bernstein, teaching proper mask usage is important, but parents need to set an example.

“I think they can also be considered [using] “Sometimes fun mask design,” said Bernstein.

“But I think parents need to play the role of wearing model masks and teach their children not to touch their faces,” he continued. “Encourage them to wash their hands well and keep a physical distance.”

Bernstein, a former member of the CDC Immunity Practices Advisory Board (ACIP), said there are many steps to approval.

“Vaccine makers present formal research data for different age groups to the FDA,” he said. “There is an independent FDA advisory board. VRBPAC, Make recommendations for approving or approving vaccines for emergency use. “

He then said the FDA’s recommendations would go to ACIP to “clinically consider the American people on the basis of science, practice and fairness.”

For those who can’t wait to protect their children, he warned that it would take time to review the available science and data.

“We want to make sure that the safety, immune response, and efficacy of these vaccines are carefully considered,” he explained.

But Bernstein also said the timeline seems to be moving fast.

“I look forward to more activity over the next four to eight weeks with these different vaccine products for different age groups, especially younger children,” he said.

A new CDC study found a significant increase in COVID-19 cases among students in schools without masking requirements.

Experts say that delta variants increase the number of cases in children and cause much higher levels of virus in the respiratory tract.

In addition to using masks, they also need to use all the tools they have at their disposal to prevent transmission of the disease, such as social distance, hand washing, and vaccinations that have become available to young children. say.