DESE Claim 2 (footnote #58): "In a case study from Ireland, after six school cases involving three students ages 10-15 and three adults, there were no confirmed transmissions despite there being over 1,000 school contacts of these individuals (students and staff)."
Cited Source: Heavey, L., Casey, G., Kelly, C., Kelly, D., & McDarby, G. (2020). No evidence of secondary transmission of COVID-19 from children attending school in Ireland, 2020. Eurosurveillance, 25(21), 2000903. Available at https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.21.2000903
Peer reviewed?: Yes, double-blinded peer reviewed
Study methodology: case study (6 cases) with contact tracing and follow up
Notes: For the six cases of COVID-19 in the study, school was not the source of infection. In the child contacts of these cases (over 1000) there were no cases of COVID-19. In this small case study, schools were not a location of transmission of COVID-19.
There are major limitations to this study. "This study is limited by small numbers of cases. Not all age ranges are represented since all children are older than 10 years." Additionally, asymptomatic contacts were not tested, so it is possible that some asymptomatic transmission occurred, but went undetected. Schools closing when a case was discovered also limit the application of study conclusions. "Prior to the nationwide closure of schools on 12 March, when a case was identified within a school, either all children and staff within the school or all children and staff involved with an individual case were excluded. This limited the potential for further transmission within the school setting once a case was identified." In other words, it's possible transmission didn't happen because schools closed when there were cases, rather than because cases don't tend to be transmitted within schools.
In the conclusion, the authors acknowledge that the small number in this case study provide limited information. "While this study, based on small numbers, provides limited evidence in relation to COVID-19 transmission in the school setting, it includes all known cases with school attendance in the Republic of Ireland. The results moreover echo the experience of other countries, where children are not emerging as considerable drivers of transmission of COVID-19." This speaks only to children transmitting in schools, not adult to adult transmission.
Peer reviewed?: Yes, double-blinded peer reviewed
Study methodology: case study (6 cases) with contact tracing and follow up
Notes: For the six cases of COVID-19 in the study, school was not the source of infection. In the child contacts of these cases (over 1000) there were no cases of COVID-19. In this small case study, schools were not a location of transmission of COVID-19.
There are major limitations to this study. "This study is limited by small numbers of cases. Not all age ranges are represented since all children are older than 10 years." Additionally, asymptomatic contacts were not tested, so it is possible that some asymptomatic transmission occurred, but went undetected. Schools closing when a case was discovered also limit the application of study conclusions. "Prior to the nationwide closure of schools on 12 March, when a case was identified within a school, either all children and staff within the school or all children and staff involved with an individual case were excluded. This limited the potential for further transmission within the school setting once a case was identified." In other words, it's possible transmission didn't happen because schools closed when there were cases, rather than because cases don't tend to be transmitted within schools.
In the conclusion, the authors acknowledge that the small number in this case study provide limited information. "While this study, based on small numbers, provides limited evidence in relation to COVID-19 transmission in the school setting, it includes all known cases with school attendance in the Republic of Ireland. The results moreover echo the experience of other countries, where children are not emerging as considerable drivers of transmission of COVID-19." This speaks only to children transmitting in schools, not adult to adult transmission.
DESE Claim 1 Supported?: limited support with caveats
DESE Claim 2 Supported?: Yes - in this case study there were no confirmed transmissions.
No comments:
Post a Comment