Almost a quarter of COVID-19 cases are children, what does that mean?

It is relatively rare for a child to be hospitalized and experience a severe case of COVID-19, but it does occur. Children with COVID-19 can infect high-risk populations with the disease.

And we are not yet aware of the long-term effects of COVID-19 on children.

“Children can be very ill with COVID, especially those with underlying health problems,” he said. Dr. Michael Grosso, Chief Medical Officer and Dean of Pediatrics, Huntington Hospital, Northwell Health.

“In addition to the primary COVID infection, some children are infected with MIS-C, a complex illness that occurs weeks later, affecting the heart, gastrointestinal tract, and other systems,” Grosso added. rice field.

It’s an argument and there is no right answer.

It really depends on the family and the situation, depending on the parents’ work schedule, access to childcare, cases of COVID-19 in the community, and school readiness.

“What we have seen about reopening schools is that a hierarchical approach can help control infections,” he said. Dr. Karen Acker, NewYork-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medicine Pediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist.

“There are multiple steps to implement. We should encourage children to wear masks indoors, and when playing with each other, we should only encourage them to take them off and eat,” she said. “We also need to ask all staff and teachers for masks. I strongly believe that vaccines are the only ones. [that’s] I’m a big advocate of vaccines for all teachers and staff as I’m going to take us out of this pandemic. “

How a family decides to send a child to school is a family decision. Each family should take a separate approach to determine the level and priority of risk they can tolerate.

“If you are in an area where the infection rate is not very high in the country, I am relieved that you should send your child to school,” Acker said. “I think children should stay home in other parts of the country where vaccines are not widespread and mask obligations are not guaranteed.”

HealthyChildren.org, run by the American Academy of Pediatrics, List of measures What families and schools can do to keep their facilities safe during a pandemic. Among the recommendations:

• vaccination
• Face mask
• Avoid crowds
• Classroom routine
• test

vaccination

According to the organization, all adults and children over the age of 12 must be fully vaccinated before the school year.

“Until the research and approval process enables immunization of children under the age of 12, elementary school children remain unprotected and rely on other approaches to staying safe,” said Grosso. .. “This includes immunization of all individuals of sufficient age to be vaccinated: students, teachers and other staff.”

Face mask

People over the age of 2 should wear a face mask that covers their nose and mouth when at school. Face masks are safe and effective to wear all day at school.

Avoid crowds

Students should be at least 3 feet apart in the classroom, if possible. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest People who are not fully vaccinated should be at least 6 feet away from those who are not in the family.

Classroom routine

To limit interaction with students, HealthyChildren.org suggests that teachers, not students, move between classrooms to keep large numbers of people out of the corridor.

It is also a good idea to have lunch at your desk or in a small group outside instead of in the lunch room.

test

The CDC recommends screening tests for unvaccinated students, especially if the incidence of COVID-19 is high in the community.

Still, it all comes down to vaccination. Vaccination has continually proven to be the best line of defense against COVID-19. Children under the age of 12 are not yet vaccinated, so it is the responsibility of others in the community to protect them, which protects all other children.

“I do whatever I can to make people feel that the vaccine is very safe and that they need to protect themselves to get out of this pandemic,” Acker said. “Vaccines are the number one public health strategy in terms of reducing illness and keeping children safe. This is a safe haven to protect you from what we know we can do COVID. Please be assured that it will be. “