The start of the school year is in a little over two weeks. And even if color codes have been designed according to the evolution of the spread of the virus, the political world, the world of education, the Gees and also many parents and children are wondering what this return will look like. very particular.
The Belgian Pediatric Covid-19 Task Force, which brings together specialists in childhood, publishes an open letter this week calling for the return to school of all full-time children from September 1. And this, with realistic measurements, and regardless of the color code in use where the school is located.
Anne Tilmanne is part of this task force. She is a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist at Hudderf (Queen Fabiola Children’s University Hospital). Invited on Matin Première this Thursday, she wants to be reassuring to parents. ” It is true that we talk a lot about an increase in cases but it is something that is controlled. It’s really monitored in Belgium. We have a lot of experts looking into the situation. “
We insist that parents put their children in school.
” In our contacts with our patients, we realize that many parents hesitate. That’s why we wrote the letter: to insist that the situation remains reassuring for the children. It is important for their well-being that they can have contact with other children. Put your children in school. It’s a secure environment, everything has been done to make it go well. “
The risk-benefit balance
For the specialist, the risk-benefit balance is clearly in favor of a return to school. “Zero risk never exists. But the well-being of the child matters too. It’s not just the disease. We are very reassured about the data we have been able to collect since the start of the epidemic. Children are not very sick and also seem to transmit the disease less than adults. This is what we see in Belgium but also in other studies, other countries. “
At Hudderf, the Queen Fabiola Children’s University Hospital where Anne Tilmanne works, around forty children have tested positive since the start of the crisis. “Most of these children were hospitalized for reasons other than the coronavirus. That is to say, all children hospitalized are screened regardless of the causes of hospitalization. And indeed, we had a few sick children. “
Symptoms in children are milder
Their symptoms are very different from those of adults, specifies the pediatrician. “They are lighter. We have only had two pediatric patients (children) who have gone to intensive care but only for external respiratory support. They have not been intubated.”
As in other hospitals in Belgium, Hudderf has tested more patients in recent weeks. “Unlike the start of the epidemic, we are able to test children who do not stay in hospital. This is why there are more cases in outpatients. It is because they are tested. “
A different degree of contamination depending on age
“For children under 12, studies show that these are not the first people infected in coronavirus outbreaks. Rather, it is adults. In less than 10% of cases, it is children.”
Other studies have been done to show the number of viral particles that have been found in children’s noses. “The amount of these particles is roughly the same as that found in adults. However, studies of the epidemic show that children remain less contaminants than adults. The two data seem contradictory but from a practical point of view, they are reassuring. “
►►► Read also : All the information on the coronavirus
Another reassuring figure for the specialist: when schools reopened in June, there was no increase in the epidemic. “It resumed in mid-July so long after the schools were reopened. All the experts are therefore in agreement that it is not the schools that played a role. “
What is planned is that the bubble-class which must be closed and not the whole school.
In June, when a positive case was detected in a school, it was often the whole establishment that closed its doors. The specialist pleads for a more detailed analysis. “Normally, it’s just the class that needs to be closed and not the whole school. We would also like to distinguish between non-close contact and close contact with the person who tested positive.“This should allow people who have respected the barrier gestures not to self-quarantine.
The specialist also pleads for a differentiation between geographical areas so that a school in Arlon does not close its doors if it is a town in Walloon Brabant where an outbreak is detected, for example. For this, we need monitoring, pleads the pediatrician.
Wearing a mask for over 12s?
If it’s pretty clear that those under 12 won’t wear the mask, what about teens? “This is an element discussed so that the start of the school year is safe for both children and teachers and adults working in the school. “
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