Can school closure help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus?



Not only Japan is taking measures to close schools, but other countries

, such as Hong Kong , Italy , and the US state of New York, are taking similar measures. Nicholas Kristakis , an expert on epidemics such as infectious diseases known in books such as ' The amazing power of connected social networks ' when asked the question 'Is school closure effective as a countermeasure against the new coronavirus?' Answers questions in the science journal Science .

Does closing schools slow the spread of coronavirus? Past outbreaks provide clues | Science | AAAS
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/does-closing-schools-slow-spread-novel-coronavirus

At the beginning of the question, Christakis emphasized the difference between 'proactive school closure' and 'reactive school closure.' Reactive school closures are when school personnel, such as students, parents, or teachers, become infected, and most people agree that schools should be closed in such cases. That.

On the other hand, proactive school closure, a measure that shuts down schools before confirming infected people, is controversial. However, Christakis concluded a 2006 study that concluded that proactive school closures for moderately contagious pathogens reduced infection rates by about 25% and slowed the epidemic peak. `` If the number of infected people rises at the same time, medical institutions such as hospitals may puncture, so it is important to delay the peak of the epidemic so that no infected people come out at the same time '.



'Students, parents, when the infection to school officials, such as teachers is discovered, post-deal specific school closure is do you essential?' To the question, 'What is the first infected person' canary in the coal mine over to ' If you find cases in the city, you should consider that there are dozens or hundreds more infected people, 'said Kristakis. When asked if schools should be closed in such cases, a question was asked during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, which concluded that closing schools could reduce student infection rates by up to 55% (PDF file). research cited, 'but we believe we should close the school, choose not to close the school will be able to understand,' he replied.

Schools in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Iraq, UAE, Italy, France and New York have decided to completely close schools. According to Christakis, a study that analyzed statistics on the Spanish cold in 1918 on measures to aggressively close schools found that the mortality rate of the city of Pittsburgh, which shut down schools for a total of 53 days seven days after the epidemic peak. `` Compared to 143 days from the day before the peak of the epidemic, school deaths in St. Louis were about one-third the death rate, '' he concluded. It has been shown to be one of the non-pharmaceutical interventions. '

Initially, there was a theory that `` children are less likely to be infected with the new coronavirus '', but in March 2020, a research result was announced that `` Ease of infection for new coronavirus is the same for adults and children '' I am.

New Corona, US-China Team (Kyodo News)-Child Infection, Same as Adult-Yahoo! News
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20200307-00000115-kyodonews-soci



Kristakis argues that the results confirm the need for school closure. 'Past studies have shown that even if children did not spread the disease, school closures could be effective in limiting the spread of the disease.'

'The cost of medical care and economics is high,' said Kristakis, regarding the problems associated with closing schools. Recognizing that parents with children may lose work opportunities, Christakis praised Japan's policy to provide subsidies for parents with elementary school children when they closed school when school closed. 'The state should pay for it, of course.'

Others said, 'If in a medium-sized town, schools should be closed once an infected person is found,' 'Schools should be closed early to prevent the spread of infection,' You should stay away from large events. ' In response to the question, 'When should schools be closed?', He replied frankly, 'I do not know the relevant research,' and 'I do not know when to reopen schools.' .

in Note, Posted by darkhorse_log