Thread by @Sunny_Rae1

@Headteacherchat Yes. Please invite myself & my colleagues at Long Covid Expert Advisory team as well as Hazards campaign to come & speak to Educational Leaders about the scientific truths & myths of COVID damage in kids, role of school in transmission & IPC in schools 🙏

@Headteacherchat Especially since the statistics clearly show the high absenteeism is due to pupil sickness 2/3

@Headteacherchat 3/ I’d also strongly recommend this CDP course for Headteachers teaching them how to keep children safe from harmful airborne pathogen spread within schools. Written by Australian Covid scientists with input from U.K. specialists incl me. Lots of info.

covidsafetyforschools.org

@Headteacherchat 4/If as Educational leaders you can improve air quality in schools and basic infection prevention & control measures with simple tips & tricks you will significantly reduce the spread & constant cycle of reinfections within schools. Sickness absence will go down, attendance will

@Headteacherchat 5/improve & also I’d recommend you also speak to us (from the Long Covid Physician side) & the Long Covid kids & CEV family charities as we can also discuss reasonable adaptations that can help keep clinically vulnerable children safely in education too x

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@Headteacherchat 13/ You may also find this BBC TV interview useful
(See next tweet)

https://twitter.com/_catinthehat/status/1754209295787311108

@Headteacherchat 14/ Here is also a clip of myself and Sir David Nabarro from WHO talking at one of the 4SD/WHO Covid-19 online public briefings about risks of COVID harm to children from certain policies regarding Children and schools in U.K. This was from 2022

@Headteacherchat 15/This is another clip from a wider discussion at 4SD/WHO online briefing. Research showing Covid harms to children (not “just” those who develop the classic presentation of long COVID) is discussed near the end

@Headteacherchat 16/This is a study showing children and schools are a MAJOR driver of transmission of Covid

jamanetwork.com/journals/jaman…

@Headteacherchat 17/ Some papers showing the damage to children’s health. This study shows a 78% relative increased risk of children developing new onset health conditions after Covid 17/

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ap…

@Headteacherchat 18/ This one showing increased risk of subclinical lung damage - even in kids with “mild” index infection

pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/ra…

@Headteacherchat 19/ This one suggesting possible subclinical contractile abnormalities in the hearts of children with previous “mild” Covid infection

doi.org/10.3390/jcm120…

@Headteacherchat 20/ There has also been nearly doubling of the risk of diabetes in children after Covid infection

nature.com/articles/s4225…

@Headteacherchat 21/ We know SARsCoV2 is neurotropic & vasculotropic meaning it damages brains and blood vessels. It was naive to assume children would be immune from this. This study shows cardiovascular disease in children has ~doubled after Covid

medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

@Headteacherchat 22/ Covid also causes clotting abnormalities in children as well as adults:

@Headteacherchat 23/ Long Covid presents differently in children compared to adults, and differently between young children and adolescents so it’s easier to miss the signs they are struggling at school due to long covid

medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

@Headteacherchat 24/ Long Covid is NOT rare in children. Researchers now estimate it can be 10-20% after COVID 19 infection

medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-p…

@Headteacherchat 25/ Despite the science, many children are still struggling for diagnosis and recognition

abc.net.au/news/2024-06-1…

@Headteacherchat 26/ salon.com/2024/08/26/lon…

@Headteacherchat 27/ Despite us already knowing Teachers have one of highest LC rates, despite research showing transmission in schools is high & despite all this mounting evidence of the damage repeated Covid infections is doing to kids, schools in UK still have ZERO protections in place 27/..

@Headteacherchat 28/…and unfortunately ONS data shows that Long Covid in children has now DOUBLED in the U.K.
…..so to answer your question- YES!!! There is loads your group could be doing to improve attendance and protect staff and pupils alike. Please meet with us and we can discuss 🙏 28/

@Headteacherchat 29/….and thank you so much for asking the question x

@Headteacherchat @Headteacherchat @LongCovidKids see Megathread of 29 above x

@Headteacherchat @LongCovidKids 31/ as well as a copy of the Educational toolkit for schools from LC Kids

longcovidkids.org/copy-of-educat…

@Headteacherchat @LongCovidKids 32/In fact the Education secretary in 2022 made it very clear what needs to be done..unfortunately it still hasn’t been done almost 5 yrs into the ONGOING pandemic (we are currently in the biggest Covid wave since 2022). You have the power to help protect our kids. Please do 🙏

https://twitter.com/bphillipsonmp/status/1478271891307646976