❦ ‘A recent US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analysis of 1.4 million children aged under 12 years and 1.7 million adolescents aged 12-17 years found increased rates of asthma, myocarditis and cardiomyopathy, cardiac dysrhythmias, diabetes, renal failure, venous thromboembolism, and coagulation disorders in children with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 compared with children without COVID-19.

These increased risks (excluding asthma) were also experienced by adolescents with COVID-19, who were additionally at increased risk of pulmonary embolism.

Although uncommon or rare, such outcomes suggest children are not spared the cardiovascular and metabolic sequelae of COVID-19.

Reinfection is common and SARS-CoV-2 spreads readily in schools in the absence of mitigation measures, such as the use of masks, portable HEPA air cleaners, and improved ventilation.

Notably, better ventilation has wider benefits, including improved academic performance. (A poorly-ventilated classroom can be equivalent to a student skipping breakfast.)

The COVID-19 pandemic is not over.

On-going commitment to a public health strategy informed by the precautionary principle is required.

This will deliver wide-ranging social, economic and health benefits.’

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📖 (20 Feb 2023 ~ The Medical Journal of Australia) Balancing the medical and social needs of children during the COVID‐19 pandemic ➤

📖 Related: (April 2021 ~ The Lancet COVID-19 Commission) The Lancet COVID‐19 Commission Task Force on Safe Work, Safe School, and Safe Travel. Designing infectious disease resilience into school buildings through improvements to ventilation and air cleaning ➤

© 2023 Zoë Hyde / The Medical Journal of Australia.

📖 (20 Feb 2023 ~ The Medical Journal of Australia) Balancing the medical and social needs of children during the COVID‐19 pandemic ➤

© 2023 Zoë Hyde / The Medical Journal of Australia.