May 13, 2020

expert comment on how policy makers and parents manage risks of schools re-opening with the risk of a rare syndrome in children associated with COVID-19

The below comment is based on comments said during an SMC briefing on the rare syndrome in children associated with COVID-19.

Prof Russell Viner, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said:

“Well how do we balance risks in normal life?  The total numbers of children who get this syndrome are very small.  Around 5000 children die tragically each year. Some of these are premature babies. But 160-170 die in car crashes.  Those deaths are tragic but also rare. How do we manage those?  We take steps to prevent these deaths. We buy child seats, we use seat belts, we sometimes buy better cars. But we don’t stop driving. This syndrome is much, much more rare than car accidents involving children. So it should not stop parents sending their children back to school when schools are ready to re-open. And of course we all know that there are many harms for children of lockdown as well.  What parents do need however is knowledge and understanding so they know what to look out for.”

All our previous output on this subject can be seen at this weblink:

www.sciencemediacentre.org/covid-19/

Declared interests

None received.