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“Keeping schools open & finding safe strategies to do it should be prioritized. But that means refraining from the narrative that children don’t get infected and schools don’t spread the virus. We cannot act appropriately until we recognize the problem." https://www.republik.ch/2021/02/01/was-wir-wissen-muessten-um-zu-wissen-ob-offene-schulen-die-pandemie-antreiben
“1. How exposed are children and adolescents?
In the early stages of the epidemic, it was adult travelers who initially carried the virus into households. It was observed that children were less likely to infect adults than the other way round.”
In the early stages of the epidemic, it was adult travelers who initially carried the virus into households. It was observed that children were less likely to infect adults than the other way round.”
“Schools and kindergartens were quickly closed, so children and adolescents no longer had the opportunity to bring Sars-CoV-2 home. Since school started in autumn, however, children have been much more exposed.”
“The British counterpart to the Swiss science task force, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, observes that in autumn and winter young people - between 2 and 16 years - were much more likely to be the first infected person in their household than 17yo or older.”
“2. How often are children infected?
Unpublished data Iceland mass tests & contact data from China suggest children are less likely to be infected than adults. This is also the conclusion of a large meta- study that summarizes several studies. Both are based on data from spring.”
Unpublished data Iceland mass tests & contact data from China suggest children are less likely to be infected than adults. This is also the conclusion of a large meta- study that summarizes several studies. Both are based on data from spring.”
“The latest results paint a different picture: Researchers from Geneva measured the seroprevalence in the population at several different times, most recently Nov 23 - Dec 23. Seroprevalence in children 6+ is practically identical to the general population.”
“Even if they usually don’t get seriously ill, the virus infects 6 to 18-year-olds about as often as adults - and children under 6 are not much less affected.”
“The fact that this picture differs so much from that of the first wave is probably due to the fact that schools remained open during the second wave of the pandemic.”
“The Ciao Corona study of Zurich schoolchildren observed roughly the same number of infections among teachers as among the general population, and there are similar results from Great Britain. In Israel, however, children were more affected than adults.”
“3. How much do children transmit the virus? Virologist Christian Drosten from the Berlin Charité examined the viral load in 3,303 infected people."There is no difference" between children and adults when comparing samples that were created on the basis of similar test criteria”
“What about the schools now? The fact that children and schools play if not the main role, then at least a role in the infection process is not only plausible, it is clearly visible.”
“Infections in school-age children in Germany and Great Britain fell faster than in other age groups after schools were closed in winter, but also in spring .”
“This means that the situation in schools should be monitored regularly with the right methods and sample sizes. Virologist christian Drosten suggested, for example , that teachers should be tested every week - regardless of whether they have symptoms.”
“If you only look at schools when there is an outbreak, you have the same problem as when testing symptomatic patients: you overlook children and adolescents (infected but not sick). That may not be a problem for the class/school. But asympt. children also bring the virus home.”
Full article here, really worth a read. https://www.republik.ch/2021/02/01/was-wir-wissen-muessten-um-zu-wissen-ob-offene-schulen-die-pandemie-antreiben
