Based on the scientific knowledge on the behavior of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, medical and health authorities agree with the returning of children to school and face-to-face classes. Find out why and listen to the answers of João Farela Neves to the main questions that concern fathers and mothers, such as Carolina Patrocínio. Pediatrician João Farela Neves answers to the doubts of Carolina Patrocínio In this Hospital da Luz podcast, find out the advice of the pediatrics team of the Hospital da Luz network to minimize the risks of covid-19 on return to school. Google | iTunes | Spotify João Farela Neves If children have covid-19 symptoms, schools know how to act, following the contingency plan based on DGS guidelines. Calls are made to the health authority and to the parents. If the case is validated by the health authority, the child is tested and there must be contact isolation. Although it can cause an alarm - because it will happen several times and because children tend to get sick in the winter - this is a part that is very well defined and that I think will go well. The difficulty that parents will experience is what to do if their child becomes ill at home. It is impossible to distinguish between flu and SARS-CoV-2 infection; it is impossible to distinguish in a 12/14 month old baby a bronchiolitis from a SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this case, parents should seek advice and it is better and it makes sense to involve the SNS 24 line in the decisions to be made because the school will require a medical declaration from them. What is currently clear from all studies done is that covid-19 is less severe in children - and that is not debatable. It does not mean that there can be no serious cases, but it is much less frequent than in adults. In addition, the adult is more contagious than the child - and this is good news because in flu it is inverse. Asking a child up to 9/10 to wear a mask is absolutely counterproductive. Kids do not know how to use it and can not keep it, they move the mask 50 times a minute, take it off, put it on, scratch their nose - and that, honestly, is a false sense of security. I stress the total need for children to go back to school. I completely agree with the rules for school closures to be very short and limited to particular cases. The vast majority of children aged 6 to 10 ‘live well with what they have’ and are doing well, whether at school or at home. But there are others who do not and this has a very big impact. What is happening now will have repercussions for children and adolescents. The 1 st year, for example, is a very difficult year and it will not be possible to have the support and support the family like before, because parents cannot enter school - which makes perfect sense because in this disease, transmission is the adult. I understand the restrictions regarding school playgrounds and common spaces worse, but I respect them. Parents must maintain the schedule of pediatric surveillance appointments. That is fundamental. The opinion of medical and health authorities Is it safe to go back to school? The risk will be very low if the basic rules of hygiene, physical distance and isolation of cases are observed. The Sociedade Portuguesa de Pediatria (SPP), the Sociedade de Infeciologia Pediátrica and the pediatrics specialty college of the Ordem dos Médicos issued a joint statement in which they emphasize that, unlike what happens in most viral infections, infection by SARS-CoV-2 causes less serious illness in children compared to adults. In addition, in children the incidence of covid-19 is lower, and symptoms are mild and transient, usually of benign evolution, with hospitalizations and fatal cases being exceptional. Moreover, the positive impact that the school has on the lives of children and young people - helping them to create routines and develop skills and social roles - cannot be overlooked either. Do children transmit this virus more than adults? No. From what is known so far, children are less likely to get the infection at school than in the community in which they live. For example, data made public about children admitted to the Hospital Dona Estefânia (reference unit in Portugal for the pediatric treatment of covid-19) indicate that more than 50% were infected by a family member at home. Studies already carried out in countries where face-to-face classes started longer ago concluded that school outbreaks of covid-19 were rare and that the transmission of the virus among adult school professionals is higher, especially in regions where community transmission is high. References: Sociedade Portuguesa de Pediatria, “Início do ano escolar 2020” The content published in the Health Guide is intended for the general public and is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It does not replace individual medical assessment, diagnosis, or personalized clinical advice from a qualified healthcare professional. The content is produced or reviewed by physicians and other healthcare professionals at Hospital da Luz and is based on the knowledge available at the time of publication or the most recent update, as indicated at the beginning of each item.
