Unvaccinated students are more prone to get COVID-19 than vaccinated peers, according to a recent study published in Pediatrics.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), school closures, and quarantines have had substantial impacts on students' health and education.
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Most people infected with the virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment. However, some will become seriously ill and require medical attention. Older people and those with underlying medical conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, or cancer are more likely to develop serious illnesses. Anyone can get sick with COVID-19 and become seriously ill or die at any age.
The virus can spread from an infected person's mouth or nose in small liquid particles when they cough, sneeze, speak, sing or breathe. These particles range from larger respiratory droplets to smaller aerosols. It is important to practice respiratory etiquette, for example by coughing into a flexed elbow, and to stay home and self-isolate until you recover if you feel unwell.
Clinical trials have shown severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines to be safe and efficacious for adults, adolescents, and young children. However, in some areas, vaccine uptake has been low among children and adolescents, especially compared to uptake in adults. Additionally, real-world vaccine effectiveness data among adolescents and implications for in-person education are lacking.
Researchers investigated the impact of COVID-19 vaccination on SARS-CoV-2 incidence and within-school transmission in a cohort of 6th-12th grade students.
In the research, 829 (73.5%) students were vaccinated, whereas the remaining 299 (26.5%) students were unvaccinated. A total of 20 (6.7%) unvaccinated students reported being infected during the study period vs. only seven (0.8%) vaccinated students.
The results showed that unvaccinated students had 8.2 (95% CI 3.5-19.4) times the incidence of documented infection and 9.2 (95% CI 3.4-25.1) times the incidence of symptomatic infection compared with vaccinated students.
Reference:
COVID-19 Incidence Among 6th-12th Grade Students by Vaccination Status by Pavan V. Thakkar et al. published in the Pediatrics.
https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/doi/10.1542/peds.2022-056230/184855/COVID-19-Incidence-Among-6th-12th-Grade-Students?searchresult=1