I hope I am not teaching grandma to suck eggs, but for anyone trying to form a view point on kids and covid may I recommend the following. 🧵
To assess the strength of evidence:
👶🏼 Look for asymptomatic testing in kids. This is important as children usually have no symptoms at the time of infection.
👶🏼 Check to see what other mitigation might be affecting results, like economic shut downs, and in school mitigation.
👶🏼 check to see if the situation the kids were in, in the study, are the same as the situation you are about to face as a society. Look for mask use, ventilation and filtration use, and think... is this what we are doing? Can I expect the same results.
👶🏼 Beware of studies that take the results of lots of other studies and squeeze them together. Usually none of the parameters between different sites are the same, and also some of the measurements (rapid tests vs lab PCR for example).
👶🏼 also check to ensure there is not difficulty accessing testing for kids and people in general. If the queues to test are really long and difficult, expect a slight (or big) underestimate.
👶🏼Check demographics, age etc. does the population in the study apply to the class in question ( although it may or may not affect the underlying mechanics of transmission, it is better to use a “well matched” population).
And also “How to read a paper” by Trish Greenhalgh are excellent short reads and how I learned to read a paper.
👶🏼 lastly, please look at the study outcomes measured. There are deaths, education, mental health, family hardship and chronic disease outcomes to investigate. Amongst others I have probably missed out.
Have a list. Is the paper answering your questions?
I hope that this thread will make it easier to deal with experts, because just as it is wise to read the abstract last when reading a paper, so you avoid bias, it is wise to be thoroughly prepped before an expert interview, so you know when bias creeps in.
👶🏼Addendum, on the topic of studies that group other studies together, or “reviews”, always make sure you check what *wasn’t* included, and why.
If you were to run a search on this topic, what search terms would you chose? Did important stuff get left out?
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The following is required and is non-negotiable unless zero covid is achieved&maintained.
@NAHTnews@NEUnion@NASUWT
🔴CO2 meters needed in
schools.
🔴Ventilation.
🔴Masks K-12 in class.
🔴Filtration if ventilation is not possible/avoid those areas of the school.
Adult PACS compensation.
Worldwide embarrassment.
Further production of resistant strains.
Borders being closed to UK for breeding vaccine resistant viruses.
I must declare my conflict of interest in this. I need the population to stay healthy so I can put my feet up at work.
Please do not remind me that two of them say “no stock”. I am fairly certain if we had put the order in six months ago, we might have got lucky... we still could get some by mid year I think.
I got some very bad news for you. All the metro hospitals in Australia are using airborne precautions, including negative pressure rooms and N95 masks, for EVERY COVID19 case.
Our excellent results are not due to national guidelines.
It is negligent to force school attendance, without full mitigation, with an airborne disease that causes chronic disease in children and can kill their parents/carers.
Ok Tweeps! I need a cheap and effective HEPA filter that hangs above beds and reduces covid particles. Like a mosquito net shape maybe, or a cooker range hood.
Possible?
For open bay ED departments and patients that can’t wear masks 24/7 while stuck for days.
What Twitter hashtag should I use to reach out to inventors/engineers/manufacturing?
Other characteristics I would like, but not essential are
Quiet
Light
Pleasant looking /paediatric versions.
Please don’t read this thread if you have a mindset that vaccinations are dangerous. This thread is for Aussies that are curious about the vaccine debate.
Firstly, and most importantly, the vaccines are all safe enough when compared to other vaccines. Yes they have happened faster that usual, but this is mainly because researchers didn’t have to write hundreds of applications for funding, and volunteers were ready to try...
What don’t we know about the vaccines?
The things we don’t have data on yet are what might happen to you ten years after a vaccine (because no time travel machine). This is highly unlikely to be something major or common (& compared to COVID19 long effects prob ok.)