This archive report was first published on 28 August 2021.
August 27, 2021 - A disturbing new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has highlighted the risks of unvaccinated school staff spreading Covid to young children. An unvaccinated teacher at an elementary school in Marin County, California, infected at least 26 people, including 12 students in their classroom.
The teacher, who had attended social functions from May 13-16, became symptomatic on May 19 but did not take a Covid test until May 21, initially believing the symptoms were due to allergies. The teacher then read aloud unmasked to the class despite school requirements to mask while indoors.
Among the teacher's 24 students, all ineligible for vaccination because they are under 12, 22 received tests and 12 were found to be positive. Eight out of 10 students in the front two rows tested positive, an attack rate of 80 percent, as well as four out of 14 in the three back rows.
The school had implemented various safety measures, including requiring students to mask, setting desks six feet apart, opening windows, and using a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter. However, the virus spread between the two classes, with researchers presuming an interaction occurred at school.
Genetic sequencing of available samples confirmed they were all part of the same outbreak, and identified the Delta variant as responsible. Eight additional cases were identified among parents and siblings of children in the two grades, with 22 of the 27 total infected people (81 percent) reporting symptoms.
No one involved in the outbreak was hospitalized. The CDC said the outbreak was likely underestimated because all testing was voluntary.
“The outbreak's attack rate highlights the Delta variant's increased transmissibility and potential for rapid spread, especially in unvaccinated populations such as schoolchildren too young for vaccination,” said the report's authors.
The CDC emphasized the need for multi-pronged mitigation strategies, including using masks, distancing, and ventilation, and staying home when sick. The agency's director, Rochelle Walensky, highlighted a second CDC study that showed case rates among children and adolescents in Los Angeles County schools were nearly 3.5 times lower than rates in the surrounding community when best practices were followed.
