Dr. Ayman Shahine, the president of the American Academy of Medical Journalism published an opinion commentary on a recent South Korean study that found that children younger than 10 years of age have a lesser chance of transmitting the SARS 2 virus that causes the COVID-19 illness, while people between the ages of 10 and 19 are fully capable of transmitting and spreading the virus as efficiently as any other adult can.
Ayman Shahine cautioned that although the study has found that children younger than 10 years of age are less likely to transmit the virus compared to older children, nonetheless, they still are capable of transmitting it. “The risk is not zero. The risk is there and the danger is real, he added. These findings come to refute the false notion that is prevalent among the public that kids are safe and that they don’t get infected with this virus Michael Osterholm an infectious disease specialist at the University of Minnesota cautioned that such false notions could be very dangerous to the community because “kids are perfectly capable of transmitting the virus” and can get sick and even die from it although at a lesser rate than older people.
Dr. Ashish Jha from the Harvard global health institute cautioned not to trust earlier studies that came from Europe and Asia that suggested that young children are less capable of spreading the infection and therefore are less likely to get infected. He cautioned that these studies were small and flawed and therefore should not be relied upon when making such serious life-threatening critical decisions.
Dr. Jha went ahead to praise the South Korean children’s study and said that “it was one of the best and most reliable studies he has ever seen on the subject.
Ayman Shahine of the American Academy of Medical journalism agreed with other experts regarding the scope, the detail, and the accuracy of the analysis and the conclusions of the South Korean researchers.
Mr. Bill Hanag, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health also praised the study saying that “it was from a place that had great contact tracing and was done at a point in time when interventions were being put in place”.
Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health was a member of the panel that recommended opening schools because according to her “there are groups of children that are having trouble learning online” particularly disabled and elementary school children. Experts have pointed that other countries that had opened their schools including some European countries, Israel, SouthKorea, and China Had to close them down again in the wake of a resurgence in the transmission of the virus.
Dr. Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York cautioned that “putting kids together in schools will provide additional vehicles and opportunities for the virus to spread further.”
Dr. Ayman shahine of the American Academy of Medical journalism noted that a sweet spot or a reasonable balance between the need of the kids to interact, learn, be together and socialize in order to grow strong and smart and the need to maintain good public health and safety minimizing the chances for the transmission of the virus that could prove to be deadly to students and parents alike.
“ More studies are needed to reach a satisfactory common ground solution that satisfies both sides” noted Dr Ayman Shahine from the American Academy of Medical Journalism.
