Way too much to cover and that tomato patch with the hornworm infestation is taking me at least an hour every night. But, I am winning the battle. Those could be famous last words.
I wanted to cover the new COVID 19 tracing app tonight but I have not had time to research it enough. I am downloading it as I write this. Should you download it? I think so but let me do a little more research. One of my patients is an IT nerd who works with product security at Blackberry. Blackberry is all about security. World experts. She gave me an easy to understand explanation as to why the app is secure and how our personal identification information cannot be shared by using the app. I trust her enough to download the app myself but, a bit of a review is necessary before I can recommend that to 15,000 followers. It is a great idea. Not much value when the rate of new infections are low but brilliant if the number of new cases rise or a second surge hits. It will be invaluable if and when a surge happens.
An early update on my research about kids as super-spreaders of the virus:
Of the thirty some odd research papers reviewed by the top pediatric minds in our province from all the children's hospitals in Ontario, with Sick Kids, Toronto leading the way, only two suggested a differing opinion. One of them is this article from the Journal of American Medical Association.
JAMA Pediatr. Published online July 30, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.3651
The article does not state that kids under 10 are super spreaders, it just shows that, in a very small number of children studied, there is proof that they are infected with the virus with few or no symptoms.
Infected children have at least as much of the coronavirus in their noses and throats as infected adults, according to the research. But this does not prove that the virus is being spread to others. The study size was too small to make any conclusions at all except that the noses of kids in the study had evidence that parts of the virus was there but not the live virus itself. That's fascinating. There is evidence that the virus was there but not evidence that it is replicating. In order to spread a virus to someone else, you need to spread live virus that is replicating. Spreading parts of a virus that is no longer alive, does not spread infection. We will figure this out in time but several theories are circulating. Do kids neutralize the virus quickly, killing it more effectively than adults, therefore making them much less likely to spread live virus? Does COVID 19 just not like kids as a host? Sounds like a silly question but kids are different than adults. There are a host of diseases that happen primarily in kids. Is this a virus that can replicate and spread in the bodies of older children and adults, but not younger kids due to some physiological difference between kids and adults?
Several of my followers sent me a link to this article:
The author of this article makes some pretty false assumptions about the JAMA article and does not give any references to a second study done in Italy which he refers to extensively. No references, no conclusions. I am not interested in a lay persons interpretation of the evidence. Let me make my own interpretations of the evidence. Give the references or don't comment at all.
This is from the most recent review from Sick Kids:
"Current evidence suggests that young children may be less susceptible to COVID-19 and children younger than 10 years of age are probably less likely to transmit the disease than older children and adults. There is also strong evidence that the majority of children who get COVID-19 may not display any symptoms or have only mild symptoms."
Read their document.
Read who the authors are:
" a collaborative effort between SickKids, CHEO, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre, McMaster Children’s Hospital and Unity Health. Paediatric and adult infectious diseases specialists, epidemiologists, paediatricians, psychiatrists, public health officials, teachers and parents provided input"
Say not more. Oh to be a fly on the wall when these folks put their brains into one room....excuse me, it was likely one Zoom. Brilliant. I trust them.
It is safe to return to school. Something special about kids prevents them from developing serious infection in most cases and something special about them makes them much less likely to spread the virus. If they wear masks, the risk of them being a spreader is even less. If teachers wear masks, it is highly unlikely that they will get COVID 19 from their students. MORE IMPORTANTLY, there is so little COVID 19 in Ontario...No new cases in Guelph today, no one in hospital and under 100 cases in the entire province for the last two days. Why? Masks. You can't spread a virus is there is no virus to spread.
COVID 10 tracking app information to follow but, mine is already downloaded!
Anne-Marie
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