Still some tests to pass
Officials urge research on kids and the virus
A mystery illness in kids and other risks from the coronavirus has medical experts urging caution before schools open again in the fall.
Protecting the next generation is being taken so seriously Johns Hopkins University — that has set itself apart in COVID-19 scholarship — called for a national mandate Friday to prioritize and fund research about children and COVID-19.
The report, “Filling in the Blanks: National Research Needs to Guide Decisions about Reopening Schools in the U.S.,” says the need for more evidence is critical to assess the potential risks of students and teachers returning to school.
“There is an urgent need to understand the evidence that would support how students could safely return to school,” the authors say. “This is an extremely difficult decision because of the uncertainties relating to risk.”
They call for the creation of a national advisory group comprised of pediatric, public health and educational researchers to regularly review the state of the science and provide updates on key questions, including:
■ How vulnerable to severe illness are students who have underlying health conditions, such as asthma, diabetes or severe obesity?
■ How safe is it for adults with serious underlying health conditions to send their children back to school without fear of those children bringing the virus home and infecting others in the family?
■ How safe is it for teachers, administrators and other school staff, especially those who are medically vulnerable, to return to school and interact with students who may be asymptomatic but infectious?
The authors also recommend tracking how other countries are approaching school reopenings to monitor any increased transmission of the coronavirus and whether successful approaches could be used in the U.S.
Although published studies so far indicate that children with COVID-19 are less likely to suffer severe illness than adults, there is only limited scientific evidence to gauge whether children with the coronavirus in school can transmit the virus to other children, as well as teachers, school staff and family members.
“My concern would be kids transmitting to adults,” said Tara Sell, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security and one of the report’s authors. “You might also have to be worried about transmissions between staff members.”
Just this week, the state’s public health commissioner mandated reporting of a new, potentially fatal pediatric inflammatory syndrome thought to be related to the coronavirus. The condition is similar to Kawasaki disease, a rare illness that causes inflammation throughout the body.