Back to school is not happening everywhere, but American pediatricians are already worried.
In the United States, the rate of Covid-19 contamination in children increased during the summer, according to data collected by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and analyzed by the New York Times on Monday.
Cases, hospitalizations and deaths from the coronavirus have increased at a faster rate in children and teenagers than among the general public, a new data set shows https://t.co/Im85W9oWKR
- The New York Times (@nytimes) August 31, 2020
Even if the virus seems to circulate less and cause fewer complications in children and adolescents than in adults, their infection rate has increased significantly in recent months, according to Dr. Sean O'Leary, vice president of the AAP, quoted by the American newspaper.
An increase which can be explained by the increase in tests, but which also reflects an increase in contamination, because the number of deaths and hospitalizations has also increased.
These increases were recorded in all the states of the country.
But the circumstances of these contaminations are not specified: the track of the schools is mentioned in particular, certain districts having already made their school year in the middle of the summer.
But in some districts, other schools are waiting until early September or planning to pursue distance learning.
A risk for those around them
Many cases of transmission of the virus between children have also been recorded in summer camps, recalls the New York Times.
In the state of Georgia, at least 260 people have tested positive after staying at a summer camp.
Among them, the majority were young people between 6 and 17 years old.
This example, as well as the large share of new infections in children, is cause for concern in the context of the gradual reopening of schools in the United States, especially in States where the circulation of the virus is high and where measures to limit its spread is limited.
Because, even if children do not develop serious forms of the disease, the risk of contamination of those around them is real.
“One of the challenges is that it is impossible to separate the schools from the rest of the community,” Dr. William Raszka Jr told the American newspaper.
"When there is a high prevalence rate in the community and schools are opened, there will be a high rate of transmission in the classrooms", explains the pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases.
These statements confirm the results of a previous American study, which claimed that young children were highly contagious.
A conclusion that goes against the French conclusions.
For the French Pediatric Society, children up to the age of 15 are in reality very little contagious: they are more likely to be infected by adults than vice versa.
The problem of contamination among the youngest is therefore far from being resolved.