Masks, children and COVID-19 – Published Studies
in Uncategorized 07/30/2021
STUDIES AROUND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MASKS ARE INCONCLUSIVE
No association of risk mitigation and mask use https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30985-3/fulltext
No association of disease incidence and mask use https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.18.21251986v1.full.pdf
Best case scenario: a reduction of .09 to .6 odds ratio for wearing mask all the time. Even within a hospital setting the use of masks gives little evidence. “Therefore, evidence for mask use versus nonuse and comparing mask types in health care settings remained insufficient. There were no new studies on the effectiveness and safety of mask reuse or extended use.” https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/L20-1292
A Danish randomized controlled trial with 6000 participants, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in November 2020, found no statistically significant effect of high-quality medical face masks against SARS-CoV-2 infection in a community setting. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6817
A July 2020 review by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine found that there is no evidence for the effectiveness of face masks against virus infection or transmission
IMPROPER MASKING IS COMMON AND UNSANITARY
Our analysis of a set of masks worn by children demonstrated significant pathogens found on children’s masks including pneumonia and cow herpes:
Wearing masks for long periods of time could result in potentially hazardous chemicals https://www.ecotextile.com/2021040127603/dyes-chemicals-news/exclusive-chemical-cocktail-found-in-face-masks.html
SCHOOLS WITHOUT MASKS HAVE NOT FARED WORSE
Comparison of cases with school mask mandates and no mandates in Florida, New York, and Massachusetts.
“We do not find any correlations with mask mandates.” https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.19.21257467v1.full
Schools in Sweden had no masking and fared just fine https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2026670
Analysis of school data shows lower case rates in schools without masks https://statsiq.co1.qualtrics.com/public-dashboard/v0/dashboard/5f78e5d4de521a001036f78e#/dashboard/5f78e5d4de521a001036f78e?pageId=Page_ffb4dc52-5543-46b2-8126-2b7229fd1b17
Raw data on schools across specific states https://statsiq.co1.qualtrics.com/public-dashboard/v0/dashboard/5f78e5d4de521a001036f78e#/dashboard/5f78e5d4de521a001036f78e?pageId=Page_4c1464ba-3550-4999-afee-9455713b9486
MASKS CAN BE DETRIMENTAL TO DEVELOPMENT
Numerous effects might be seen from extended mask wearing https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4344
Mask use might be associated with headaches on other child ailments https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-124394/v2
Autism and mask wearing https://researchautism.org/the-challenge-of-face-masks/
ABOUT COVID AND SCHOOLS
LOW RISK FOR CHILDREN
Mortality rate among children is zero for children without pre-existing medical conditions https://s3.amazonaws.com/media2.fairhealth.org/whitepaper/asset/Risk%20Factors%20for%20COVID-19%20Mortality%20among%20Privately%20Insured%20Patients%20-%20A%20Claims%20Data%20Analysis%20-%20A%20FAIR%20Health%20White%20Paper.pdf
Children are at very low risk of COVID-19 https://osf.io/ezdf2/
Children have strong preexisting immunity to Sars-Cov-2 https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6522/1339
Hospital outcomes for children significantly better than adults https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2766037
Children spread COVID-19 much less than adults https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2766037
CHILDREN SPREAD COVID LESS FREQUENTLY
Adults living with children are not at increased risk of contracting the disease: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.01.20222315v1
In fact, the disease was attenuated in families with children: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.01.20222315v1
Children “act as a brake” on the disease. (Massive study out of Germany) https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.01.20222315v1
Transmission is typically from adult-to-child not from child-to-adult: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.01.20222315v1
Bottom line: children are less susceptible to COVID-19 than adults https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008559
Children are not super spreaders https://adc.bmj.com/content/105/7/618.info
ASYMPTOMATIC SPREAD FROM CHILDREN IS RARE
As with adults, asymptomatic spread is less than 1% in secondary attack rate: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774102
Viral loads in children are significantly lower than in adults https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/JCM.02593-20
No evidence of relevant asymptomatic spread in childcare facilities https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.16.21255616v1
In-person learning in New York City public schools not associated with increased prevalence https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/early/2021/03/05/peds.2021-050605.full.pdf
TEACHERS DO NOT FACE INCREASED RISK FROM CHILDREN
Minimal transmission in primary schools https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.26.1.2002011#abstract_content
U.S. Child Care Programs show no significant impact from COVID-19
No association of elevated risk for school providers https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/147/1/e2020031971.long
Spread among schools in the Fall was subordinate at best https://www.cream-migration.org/publ_uploads/CDP_22_20.pdf
The risk of in-person schooling for teachers is are comparable to the risks of commuting by automobile https://www.nber.org/papers/w28619
SCHOOLS HAVE NOT DRIVEN THE SPREAD OF COVID-19
Extremely limited secondary transmission in schools https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/147/4/e2020048090
Were the risks of opening schools exaggerated https://www.npr.org/2020/10/21/925794511/were-the-risks-of-reopening-schools-exaggerated
Unicef: “the net benefits of keeping schools open outweigh the costs of closing them.” https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/six-point-plan-protect-children
Transmission in school settings were uncommon https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30882-3/fulltext