Parents in front of a primary school in Strasbourg.
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Jean-Francois Badias / AP / SIPA
The UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 is of concern because it appears to make the disease more contagious and infect children more.
England and Scotland will return to full containment from Wednesday, with schools closed until the February holidays.
In France, where the English variant is already present, some voices are worried about seeing schools open.
The beginning of the year 2021 has a scent of March 2020. At least in England and Scotland, where Wednesday morning, schools will remain closed until the February holidays.
Indeed, the British authorities announced Monday evening a strict containment until March to respond to the explosion in the number of coronavirus cases and overcrowded hospitals.
Faced with figures that are still not falling in France - even if they are far from the British surges: 380 deaths and 4,000 new cases Monday in France against 407 deaths and 58,000 new cases in the United Kingdom -, some are wondering.
Shouldn't schools be kept closed and children warm?
In question, the English variant of the coronavirus.
A disease that infects children more?
No more doubt, it is present in France.
About ten cases have been identified, knowing that the sequencing of the tests is not systematic in France and less developed than in Great Britain.
What is even more alarming is that this variant is suspected of making the disease more contagious and of infecting children more than other variants of Covid-19.
What do we really know about this last specificity?
“Not much, that's what is complicated, recognizes Christèle Gras-Le Guen, president of the French Pediatric Society.
An alert was launched by the BBC a few days ago on this subject.
English pediatricians explained that they observed more positive cases in children, without being able to quantify it.
But they are not able to say if it is because the virus circulates more after the holiday season or if it is the fault of the variant.
»Doubts confirmed by Eric Billy, researcher in immuno-oncology and member of the collective On the side of science, which campaigned for the adoption of the mask from 6 years old at school.
"An epidemiological analysis based on the sequencing of the viral genomes of the patients shows an exponential growth of this variant compared to the others," he explains.
We can assume, but this trend should be scientifically validated, that these patients would be more contagious.
"Even the children?
“In sick children, this variant is found to a greater extent,” continues the researcher.
This does not mean that they are more contagious, but that they are more contaminated.
However, we know that hospitals are saturated in England… ”
Does this mean that hospitals risk not being able to take care of children sick with Covid-19?
"In all cases, the proportion of positive children compared to adults remains in the minority and we do not see more serious forms", reassures the president of the French Pediatric Society.
What this graph summarizes well.
This frightening graphic, suggesting that there are more hospitalizations of children than adults in England, is circling the world.
But this is the evolution of hospitalizations, not absolute values.
The real graphic is this.
https://t.co/nRaiiwWsSj pic.twitter.com/X5kVYRlgzA
- Vincent Glad (@vincentglad) January 2, 2021
“As with us, the pediatric services do not see more children,” continues the pediatrician.
On the contrary, whereas we are usually swamped with influenza and bronchiolitis, this year our pediatric services are empty… ”Information corroborated by the latest Public Health France bulletins.
Between December 21 and 27 (last rises smoothed over a week), crossings for suspected Covid-19 were down among those under 15 (- 24%) and stable among 15-74 years.
In addition, on December 29, 54 children under 14 were hospitalized (out of 24,776 people hospitalized), including 11 in intensive care.
It was the same on December 22 (55 hospitalized, 11 in intensive care).
No alert, but vigilance
There is no point in panicking, then.
“But we have to remain vigilant, that we continue to test children.
And if they are positive, we sequence the strain to see if it is this variant ”, nuance Christèle Gras-Le Guen.
To improve the screening of children, the French Society of Pediatrics has proposed an algorithm that helps recognize alarming symptoms.
Another field to study: we know that this variant is present on our soil, "but we do not know to what extent it circulates, we must give ourselves the means to know, and to see if the children are affected", she continues. .
Same call to remain vigilant on the side of the collective On the side of Science, annoyed by the fact that in France, we still do not recognize schools as places at risk in the dynamics of contagion.
And this while by closing British schools, Boris Johnson seems to recognize, finally, their role as vector of the epidemic.
Schools may act as vectors for transmission, says Boris Johson - hence the full lockdown.
pic.twitter.com/hzrwGIaLgq
- Irene Tosetti (@itosettiMD_MBA) January 4, 2021
“Whatever the variant, we must fight against contagion, insists Eric Billy.
Wanting to protect the elders with confinement, a curfew, that makes sense.
But not if, on the other hand, we let children spread the virus within families at the risk of creating clusters.
Ignoring that children are asymptomatic vectors is a bit like shooting yourself in the foot.
"
A controversy that Jean-Michel Blanquer is not unaware of.
On Europe 1, the Minister of Education retorted Tuesday morning that a staggered start, chosen by several countries, was not necessary in France.
“If we don't send the children to school, they are elsewhere.
The risk of contamination is greater outside of school, ”he said.
"Before closing schools, the English did not have the same precautionary measures as us," adds the president of the French Pediatric Society.
In particular masks for 6-11 year olds.
"
Strengthen the protocol in schools?
Sufficient?
Not for Eric Billy.
“We know that school is necessary, socially important, and the French deconfinement plan in May was very good.
But that of November turned out to be much less drastic.
According to him, we could therefore consider strengthening certain measures before imagining closing schools.
How? 'Or' What ?
By ventilating the rooms more, in particular.
“In Germany, they are classy with their jacket because they ventilate all the time,” he explains.
Afterwards, in this country, children often have half-days of school and eat a lot at home.
As we know, it is during mealtimes that children fall off the mask and share their postilions.
"A canteen is no more secure than restaurants which are closed today", annoys Eric Billy.
Better ventilate the rooms, make the children eat in their class or not in small groups, do half-days, equip schools with CO2 detectors to know when to open the windows wide… This is the kind of effort that Education could make national.
“There is no evidence to say that children are an important link in contamination, contradicts Christèle Gras-Le Guen.
There have not been hundreds of school closures or massacres among teachers or nursery nurses ... We may be worried parents, we have to look at what is happening: not much in schools.
“Still, the next few weeks will be decisive.
“We have to see how the return to school is going,” she admits.
But as long as we don't have any warning signs, I won't overload a protocol before it hurts… ”
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The question of incidence
Difficult to see clearly in this controversy over schools, vectors of the epidemic, which widely divides.
The evolution of the incidence is very important to take into account in the decision to open or close schools.
This is also what the World Health Organization underlines in its focus on schools.
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