TRENDS
A Back-To-School Season Like No Other ‘Don’t rush things,’ advise pediatric and education experts
Flu disappeared ... but what’s next? This year’s back-to-school season should be unlike any other. For one thing, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) all but disappeared this past winter, raising questions about what might happen this fall. Many epidemiologists believe the flu’s absence was due to precautions put in place to stem the pandemic, though others speculate that the coronavirus simply crowded out all other viruses. The bottom line is, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported just one influenza-associated pediatric death during the 2020-2021 season. (The death occurred in February 2021.) In contrast, the total number of pediatric deaths occurring during the prior flu season – 2019-2020 – was 196. Some experts are predicting a strong resurgence in respiratory viruses this fall, as precautionary measures, such as mask-wearing and physical distancing, During an American Academy of Pediatrics-sponsored virtual “town hall”
are lifted. Others believe that immune
meeting this spring, Susannah Briskin, M.D., FAAP, member of the AAP Council on
systems might have been weakened with-
Sports Medicine and Fitness Executive Committee, spoke about the potential of stress
out exposure to the flu virus during the
fractures among young people returning to athletics following a long period of relative in-
2020-2021 season, opening the possibil-
activity due to the pandemic. A colleague, Carol Cohen Weitzman, M.D., FAAP, immediate
ity for flu to roar back with a vengeance.
past chair of the AAP Section on the Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics Executive
“I don’t have any way to predict
Committee, picked up on the comment and added a cautionary note about “metaphorical”
whether this will happen or not, but
stress fractures. She was referring to challenges that returning students might face due to
we can be sure that other respiratory
the emotional, academic and intellectual stresses experienced during the pandemic.
viruses will continue to circulate in some
Welcome to back-to-school, the post-COVID-19 version.
fashion as they always have,” says Bonnie
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September 2021 | The Journal of Healthcare Contracting
