Usa, so a teacher (not vaccinated) has infected half the class- time.news

by time news
from Laura Cuppini

In May, the teacher, who was not wearing a mask, transmitted the infection to 12 pupils and at least 8 of parents and siblings: the outbreak remained limited thanks to the high vaccination coverage in the area, over 70 percent

While in Italy there is discussion of compulsory green pass for teachers, two weeks after the opening of the schools, a US study helps to understand what they can be the risks of having a positive adult in the classroom.

The work is important because the teacher in question was infected with the Delta variant, while many of the previous studies on infections at school had been done on the earlier strains, much less contagious.

The outbreak

In the United States, some school districts, such as New York, have already imposed the vaccine requirement on teachers and staff, others may follow. Especially since in recent days the Food and Drug Administration has definitively approved the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study concerns an episode that occurred in May in one Marin County Elementary School, in California.

The teacher, unvaccinated and positive for the Delta variant, it infected half the pupils in his class and, indirectly, some of their families.

In total the outbreak covered 26 people.

The most important thing we can do to protect children, especially those too young to be vaccinated (under 12, ed), make sure adults they have contact with, including teachers and school staff, are vaccinated, said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University.

Without mask

The Marin County teacher showed the first symptoms on May 19, but worked for two days before taking the test.

During this period, the teacher he read aloud, without a mask, to a class of 24 students, although the mask is mandatory for both teachers and students.

The pupils were all under 12, therefore too young to be vaccinated. On May 23, the teacher reported that she was positive for coronavirus infection.

In the following days too 12 students tested positive: all those in the first row, 3 out of 5 in the second row and 4 out of 14 in the last three rows.

They also got infected six students from another class and at least eight parents and siblings of infected students, three of which were full course vaccinated.

Delta variant

The CDC researchers sequenced samples of the virus from many of the positive cases and found that all had been infected with the Delta variant.

The samples from 10 students of the two classes were genetically indistinguishable, so they came from the same outbreak.

The infections were due to two factors, the CDC researchers say: Delta’s high level of infectivity and the fact that the teacher was not vaccinated or wore a mask.

Note that Marin County has the highest vaccination rate in California (72 percent): this may explain how the outbreak remained limited to 26 people. Probably without vaccination coverage it would have spread much more.

Vaccinate everyone

Vaccination rates are on the rise in the US, but the Delta variant continues to drive a surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

In order for the school to open safely, the entire candidate population, aged 12 and over, must be vaccinated.

Clinical trials on younger children are underway: Pfizer has announced that the results could arrive in September.

August 28, 2021 (change August 28, 2021 | 21:04)

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