French Pediatric Societies Call for School to Stay Open amid the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Guen, Christèle Gras‐Le; Hentgen, Véronique; Dubos, François; Kochert, Fabienne; Balençon, M.; Lévy, Corinne; Somekh, Ido; Somekh, Eli; Ferrara, Pietro; Pettoello‐Mantovani, Massimo; Cohen, Robert

doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2021.04.001

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, the announcement of France’s first period of lockdown (on March 14, 2020) raised concerns about a possible increase in the risk of child abuse [ 1 ]. Family relationships were inevitably modified by the almost permanent presence of all family members under the same roof (due to the closure of daycare centers, and with parents teleworking from home), the associated climate of fear, social isolation, and (in some cases) the financial consequences of COVID-19.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In France and some other developed countries, the numbers of reports to child welfare services and emergency department visits for child abuse started to fall when lockdown was introduced [ 2 , 3 ]. Since levels of domestic violence were unlikely to fall during this uncertain period, the observed decreases led to concerns that abused children were not being identified and cared for [ 1 , 4 ]. One of the most serious forms of abuse in children aged 0 to 24 months is abusive head trauma (AHT), which can result in severe injury or death [ 5 , 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Incidence of child abuse with subdural hemorrhage during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide study in France

et al. 2022

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The global COVID-19 pandemic prompted governments to impose unprecedented sanitary measures, such as social distancing, curfews, and lockdowns. In France and other countries, the first COVID-19 lockdown raised concerns about an increased risk of child abuse. Abusive head trauma (AHT) is one of the most serious forms of child abuse in children aged 0–24 months and constitutes the leading cause of death in children under 2 years of age. Subdural hemorrhage (SDH) is present in 89% of cases of AHT and constitutes one of the most specific, objective clinical presentations in the diagnosis of child abuse. In a French nationwide study, we sought to evaluate the potential impact of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence of hospital admissions for child abuse with SDH, relative to the two previous years. We conducted a nationwide, retrospective study of data in the French national hospital discharge summary database by applying the International Classification of Diseases (10th Revision) codes for SDH and for child abuse. After including children aged up to 24 months with a diagnosis of child abuse and/or SDH following hospital admission anywhere in France between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2020, we compared the incidence of child abuse, the incidence of SDH + child abuse, and the demographic data for 2020 with the corresponding values for 2018 and 2019. There were no significant differences in the number of hospital admissions due to child abuse or SDH + child abuse between 2020 and the 2018/2019 control years. The incidence of SDH + child abuse was higher among boys than among girls. There were significantly fewer hospital admissions in May 2020 ( p = 0.01) and significantly more in December 2020 ( p = 0.03), relative to the same months in the two preceding years. There was a nonsignificant trend toward a lower incidence of hospital admission for child abuse in 2020, relative to 2019 (decrease: 6.4%) and 2018 (decrease: 7.6%). Conclusion: When considering children under the age of 24 months in France, the incidence of hospital admission for SDH in the context of child abuse was not significantly higher in 2020 than in the two previous years. What is Known: • The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on child abuse and more specifically on subdural hemorrhage remains unknown. What is New: • There was no increase in hospitalizations for child abuse and AHT. • We found that boys are more often victims of child abuse and subdural hemorrhage among children aged less than 12 months. Supplementary information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00431-022-04387-x.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incidence of child abuse with subdural hemorrhage during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide study in France

et al. 2022

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“…Table 6 includes the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the polynomial logistic (Department of Education, 2021, Internal Revenue Service., 2021Dong et al, 2020;Gras-Le Guen et al, 2021;Limbers, 2021;Petts et al, 2021;Power, 2020;Thorell et al, 2021;Viner et al, 2021) regression analysis for which the primary outcome variable was maternal preference for their children's educational format for return to school for mothers who were not employed. After controlling for relevant demographic factors, worried about my child getting COVID-19 and their health being severely impacted had the strongest association with maternal preferences for a fully virtual instructional format (Odds Ratios range from 3.63 to 21.97; p < .01).…”

Section: Vari-mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted the educational experience of children worldwide (Thorell et al, 2021). Many pediatric organizations, including the European Paediatric Association, have advocated for schools to remain open for in-person instruction during the pandemic largely based on data that suggest a low percentage of COVID-19 cases (<5%) are in children younger than 18 years old and children are more likely to contract COVID-19 in their homes than in school environments (Gras-Le Guen et al, 2021). School closures are also associated with emotional and social disturbances in children (Viner et al, 2021), which have the potential to have long-term effects on child development and well-being.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mothers’ Preferences for Their Children’s Format for Return to School During the Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic: Are There Differences Between Full-Time Employed Mothers and Mothers Who are Not Employed?

Limbers

Pavlov

2021

Journal of Family Issues

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The present study assessed factors associated with maternal preferences for their children’s educational format (i.e., completely in-person, completely online/remote, or hybrid of in-person and online/remote) for return to school during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether these associations differed between full-time employed mothers and mothers who were not employed. Participants were 911 mothers of school-aged children from the United States (full-time employed, n = 650; not employed, n = 261). Recruitment took place online via social media during Summer 2020. Questionnaires on school modality preference, maternal work status, and demographic characteristics were filled out online through Qualtrics. Compared to mothers who were not employed, full-time employed mothers were more likely to endorse a preference for a hybrid in-person and online/remote educational format for their children and less likely to endorse a preference for a completely online/remote educational format for their children. The factor most strongly associated with maternal preferences for their children’s educational format for return to school in both groups of mothers was being worried about my child getting COVID-19 and their health being severely impacted (rs’s ranged from −56 to −58; p < .01). Regardless of maternal employment status, this factor continued to have the strongest association with a maternal preference for a completely online educational format in the polynomial regression analysis after controlling for relevant demographic variables (Odds Ratios ranged from 3.63 to 37.64; p < .01). These findings highlight that concerns about child health during the COVID-19 pandemic influence maternal preferences for their children’s educational format, regardless of maternal employment status.

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“…However, these decisions raised many issues, given their devastating consequences on child well-being and development ( 4 ). To help evaluate the public health benefit of these measures over the direct negative consequences, the direct benefit of school closure on the burden of MIS-C, the most severe form of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children, needs to be estimated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Educational Setting and SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Among Children With Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome: A French National Surveillance System

et al. 2021

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Background: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is the most severe form associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in children. To reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2 at the population level, educational setting closure have been implemented in many countries. However, the direct benefit of school closure on the MIS-C burden remains to be explored. We aimed to assess the role of educational settings in SARS-CoV-2 transmission among children with MIS-C.Methods: We conducted a French national prospective surveillance of MIS-C, coordinated by Public Health France, from April 2020 to March 2021. During this period, we included all children with MIS-C fulfilling the WHO definition who were reported to Public Health France. For each child, we traced the source of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. The main outcome was the proportion of children with MIS-C, with educational setting-related SARS-CoV-2 infection, during the period of school opening.Results: We included 142 children fulfilling WHO criteria for MIS-C: 104 (70%) cases occurred during school opening periods. In total, 62/104 children (60%, 95%CI [50; 69]) had been contaminated by a household contact and 5/104 in educational settings (5%, 95%CI [2; 11]). Among children with MIS-C occurring during school closure periods, the proportion of household transmission remained similar (66%, 25/38).Conclusion: Children with MIS-C were mainly infected by SARS-CoV-2 within their family environment, and the educational setting played a marginal role in this transmission. This suggests that mitigating school attendance may not reduce substantially the burden of MIS-C.

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French Pediatric Societies Call for School to Stay Open amid the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Cited by 7 publications

References 20 publications

Incidence of child abuse with subdural hemorrhage during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide study in France

Incidence of child abuse with subdural hemorrhage during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide study in France

Mothers’ Preferences for Their Children’s Format for Return to School During the Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic: Are There Differences Between Full-Time Employed Mothers and Mothers Who are Not Employed?

Educational Setting and SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Among Children With Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome: A French National Surveillance System

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