There’s no lack of anecdotal evidence that pediatric hospitals are reaching capacity in many states. This past weekend, Dallas had zero ICU beds for kids. But, anecdotal evidence can be very different than population-level evidence. So, what are we seeing on a population-level? And, is there anything we should be concerned about?
Thank you for this peds-specific post. I use your data all the time in my professional practice (PA for General Int Med) but I just sent my 2 oldest kids to kinder and 2nd grade yesterday and therefore so appreciate this post. Thankfully they attend Dallas ISD schools and masks are mandated (for now); the new data supports this even further. To piggyback on a previous commenter, the idea of 50% of kids getting Covid before the semester is over makes me sick to my stomach- it is hard to feel this helpless as a parent. Keep publishing the truth- many of us out here are listening!
Hello! My kids 5&6 starting school tomorrow. We are in California, so indoor mask mandates and some cohorting is happening at their school. This gives me some peace, but I wish there was some clear data on children's death/hospitaliztion rates and pre-existing conditions. Are these children with pre-existing conditions more vulnerable than heathly children?
Also, can the age ranges of these children be further grouped (under 17)?
Thanks for this. The conservative model predicts that even with masks, almost 50% of susceptible children in elementary school would get covid by the end of the fall semester. Obviously this is better than 90% without masks or testing, but is this really acceptable?
And here in TN Governor Lee decided that parents can opt out of any school-mandated masking by writing a note to school, because parents know best. A few school districts are ignoring his executive order and reaching out to lawyers because he did not talk to the schools before making this EO.
In the press conference he also stated that hospital beds are full of adults and so this is an adult problem. He is completely missing the community transmission aspect, not to mention that pediatric beds in our state are also filling.
My mind is boggled and I've been silently screaming in my head since his press conference yesterday afternoon.
My friend is an MD who treats kids with MIS-C at a hospital in Texas. She has seen the figures Texas reports. The state is under reporting the number of MIS-C cases.
I live outside of Houston and as you know things are getting scary in school. A group of concerned parents formed a FUSS chapter specific to our school district, CISD. Many of us learned about FUSS from you, so THANK YOU! We are slowing changing minds, but I need some help and don't know where to find this information. Do you have an estimate for the number of unreported cases for each reported case when the positivity rate is above 20%? For example 'for each reported case there are between 7-12 unreported cases.'
Cases are skyrocketing and it's only the 6th day of school (our ISD does do an excellent job of tracking reported cases and sharing the data). Our local positivity rate is 23% so I know the ACTUAL infection rate is much higher. I think it would be helpful if I could show school board members a true estimate of infections (reported + unreported) in our ISD. We currently have 656 reported active infections and 66,803 students. I suspect between 5-10% of our student population is currently infected. Since masks aren't being mandated and at best 50% are wearing them, if we don't make a change quickly we will end up shutting down.
If you can point me in the right direction I'd truly appreciate it. I can never thank you enough for the help you've already provided so many of us!
Hello. Thank you so very much for all the amazing content. I have a question about discussing vaccine with a family member that is in the "definitely not" category of hesitancy. He is however very protective of family and has a gun in the home. I wonder if there is a way to use epidemiology of guns in the home as a way to show that protecting against the very small risk of a home threat (using a gun), is similar to protecting him (and family) from chance of bad outcomes of Covid. I think this might get through to him?? So, my question is what is the epidemiology of guns in the home (Protecting vs causing harm). Hope this makes sense!!
So boosters are coming for all adults. What about high risk 16 and 17 year olds who were able to get vaccinated back in late winter? Aren’t they at increased risk compared to the general (not elderly, immunocompromised, etc) population as vaccine immunity wanes? Especially because they all received Pfizer VS Moderna? Thank you for, well, everything!
With traditional schools starting up next week here in NC I'm very thankful for this article - please please please mask up!!! I want my kids to be in school and socializing, but most importantly I want everyone to be SAFE - PLEASE VACCINATE YOURSELF and your kids. Delta is a whole new ball of tricks that we don't need right now.
Hello! I've been a long-time "lurker" on Facebook and literally subscribed a few minutes ago. You did not disappoint. I came here seeking your data driven and reliable information about children and behold the top post is about just that. Your efforts are appreciated more than you know. Keep fighting the good fight. I'm here for it!
Thank you so much for all you do! We’ve seen so many awful stories about what has happened in school districts without masks in place. Do we have data yet on how it’s going in places that have opened schools with mask mandates? I am dying to know if they will be effective enough against delta, particularly given the fact that schools will be at near full capacity and therefore unable to implement distancing in any meaningful way. With Delta being so much more transmissible and with pediatric hospitalizations being so high, it’s difficult to feel comfortable sending my elementary kids to school based on the fact that school transmission was relatively low last year.
To add to the joy in TN, this evening one of the school districts in our county published a new policy that makes the quarantine period OPTIONAL for asymptomatic contacts. There is no requirement that this person wear a mask during their quarantine period. The schools do not require masks, in general, and the majority do not wear them. Contacts are only prohibited from school if they are symptomatic--pre-symptomatic period be darned. Legal reasons around who is allowed to quarantine people was quoted as the impetus for the change. I get the impression this wasn't the choice of the district leaders.
I know this isn't anything that can be addressed here, really, but I wanted to let you guys know this may become a trend in other places.
I have a moderate/severe asthmatic kid that turns 12 in 3 months. He appears to be well into adolescence, growth spurt, deepening voice, underarm hair. He weighs 150lbs and is 5’6". I see that Pfizer may get full approval by Monday, 8/23/21. Is there any provision for him to be eligible for the vaccine - I mean doctors do prescribe off-label for medication approved by the FDA.
When you use the word "children" or "kids" what age range are you referring to? I work in a preschool with 1 yr old to 5 year olds. Where can I find info specific to that age group? Thank you so much for all you do!
Thank you for this peds-specific post. I use your data all the time in my professional practice (PA for General Int Med) but I just sent my 2 oldest kids to kinder and 2nd grade yesterday and therefore so appreciate this post. Thankfully they attend Dallas ISD schools and masks are mandated (for now); the new data supports this even further. To piggyback on a previous commenter, the idea of 50% of kids getting Covid before the semester is over makes me sick to my stomach- it is hard to feel this helpless as a parent. Keep publishing the truth- many of us out here are listening!
Hello! My kids 5&6 starting school tomorrow. We are in California, so indoor mask mandates and some cohorting is happening at their school. This gives me some peace, but I wish there was some clear data on children's death/hospitaliztion rates and pre-existing conditions. Are these children with pre-existing conditions more vulnerable than heathly children?
Also, can the age ranges of these children be further grouped (under 17)?
Thanks for this. The conservative model predicts that even with masks, almost 50% of susceptible children in elementary school would get covid by the end of the fall semester. Obviously this is better than 90% without masks or testing, but is this really acceptable?
And here in TN Governor Lee decided that parents can opt out of any school-mandated masking by writing a note to school, because parents know best. A few school districts are ignoring his executive order and reaching out to lawyers because he did not talk to the schools before making this EO.
In the press conference he also stated that hospital beds are full of adults and so this is an adult problem. He is completely missing the community transmission aspect, not to mention that pediatric beds in our state are also filling.
My mind is boggled and I've been silently screaming in my head since his press conference yesterday afternoon.
My friend is an MD who treats kids with MIS-C at a hospital in Texas. She has seen the figures Texas reports. The state is under reporting the number of MIS-C cases.
I live outside of Houston and as you know things are getting scary in school. A group of concerned parents formed a FUSS chapter specific to our school district, CISD. Many of us learned about FUSS from you, so THANK YOU! We are slowing changing minds, but I need some help and don't know where to find this information. Do you have an estimate for the number of unreported cases for each reported case when the positivity rate is above 20%? For example 'for each reported case there are between 7-12 unreported cases.'
Cases are skyrocketing and it's only the 6th day of school (our ISD does do an excellent job of tracking reported cases and sharing the data). Our local positivity rate is 23% so I know the ACTUAL infection rate is much higher. I think it would be helpful if I could show school board members a true estimate of infections (reported + unreported) in our ISD. We currently have 656 reported active infections and 66,803 students. I suspect between 5-10% of our student population is currently infected. Since masks aren't being mandated and at best 50% are wearing them, if we don't make a change quickly we will end up shutting down.
If you can point me in the right direction I'd truly appreciate it. I can never thank you enough for the help you've already provided so many of us!
PS we made the news this week!
https://www.khou.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/parents-plead-mask-mandate-conroe-isd-board-meeting-after-record-covid-19-case-count/285-3dbdae61-118b-4588-bcb4-fcc9f8cb42f7
Hello. Thank you so very much for all the amazing content. I have a question about discussing vaccine with a family member that is in the "definitely not" category of hesitancy. He is however very protective of family and has a gun in the home. I wonder if there is a way to use epidemiology of guns in the home as a way to show that protecting against the very small risk of a home threat (using a gun), is similar to protecting him (and family) from chance of bad outcomes of Covid. I think this might get through to him?? So, my question is what is the epidemiology of guns in the home (Protecting vs causing harm). Hope this makes sense!!
So boosters are coming for all adults. What about high risk 16 and 17 year olds who were able to get vaccinated back in late winter? Aren’t they at increased risk compared to the general (not elderly, immunocompromised, etc) population as vaccine immunity wanes? Especially because they all received Pfizer VS Moderna? Thank you for, well, everything!
With traditional schools starting up next week here in NC I'm very thankful for this article - please please please mask up!!! I want my kids to be in school and socializing, but most importantly I want everyone to be SAFE - PLEASE VACCINATE YOURSELF and your kids. Delta is a whole new ball of tricks that we don't need right now.
Hello! I've been a long-time "lurker" on Facebook and literally subscribed a few minutes ago. You did not disappoint. I came here seeking your data driven and reliable information about children and behold the top post is about just that. Your efforts are appreciated more than you know. Keep fighting the good fight. I'm here for it!
Thank you so much for all you do! We’ve seen so many awful stories about what has happened in school districts without masks in place. Do we have data yet on how it’s going in places that have opened schools with mask mandates? I am dying to know if they will be effective enough against delta, particularly given the fact that schools will be at near full capacity and therefore unable to implement distancing in any meaningful way. With Delta being so much more transmissible and with pediatric hospitalizations being so high, it’s difficult to feel comfortable sending my elementary kids to school based on the fact that school transmission was relatively low last year.
To add to the joy in TN, this evening one of the school districts in our county published a new policy that makes the quarantine period OPTIONAL for asymptomatic contacts. There is no requirement that this person wear a mask during their quarantine period. The schools do not require masks, in general, and the majority do not wear them. Contacts are only prohibited from school if they are symptomatic--pre-symptomatic period be darned. Legal reasons around who is allowed to quarantine people was quoted as the impetus for the change. I get the impression this wasn't the choice of the district leaders.
I know this isn't anything that can be addressed here, really, but I wanted to let you guys know this may become a trend in other places.
I have a moderate/severe asthmatic kid that turns 12 in 3 months. He appears to be well into adolescence, growth spurt, deepening voice, underarm hair. He weighs 150lbs and is 5’6". I see that Pfizer may get full approval by Monday, 8/23/21. Is there any provision for him to be eligible for the vaccine - I mean doctors do prescribe off-label for medication approved by the FDA.
When you use the word "children" or "kids" what age range are you referring to? I work in a preschool with 1 yr old to 5 year olds. Where can I find info specific to that age group? Thank you so much for all you do!