HJBR Nov/Dec 2021

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  NOV / DEC 2021 53 with very few outbreaks leading to closures. Even so, we’ve been mindful of the un- predictable nature of COVID and its ability to surge quickly, resulting in high numbers of infections, sometimes affecting popula- tions that did not see as many infections as in the past. The Delta variant in particular was a deadly threat for families in Louisi- ana. Nine children died during the Delta surge in late summer, representing half of the 18 children who have died since the pandemic began. That’s been heartbreaking for the epidemiologists on my team. We fol- low pediatric cases from afar, and it’s been incredibly difficult to see a child lose a bat- tle with this terrible virus. During the Delta surge in particular, we kept our serious pediatric cases in the fore- front of our minds as we continued to high- light the importance of quarantine as we’ve shared guidance with school leaders. Even so, we know that parents have been hesitant to have their children tested be- cause of the possibility of quarantine and having a child miss in-person instruction. For that reason, we’ve set a goal of 20% of the school population tested for each school, knowing that not everyone will be inclined to participate. Our statewide goal is to test 10% of the total school population, covering all teachers, staff and students. While I’d like to see everyone in each school tested, having a set proportion of a population tested does give us a sample to work with that provides information about transmission, and it can also tell us wheth- er additional mitigation efforts are needed if we begin to see high numbers of positive cases among the samples that are tested. In addition to embracing our most ef- fective tool — vaccines — the schools that have had minimal outbreaks are also con- sistently using other mitigation measures quarantine with babysitters and working from home, but I know this is difficult for many parents. Many children, my son in- cluded, aren’t old enough to independently work on virtual learning, so I know it can be a real challenge to manage classwork while learning from home. I sympathize with all the parents out there, but I remain optimistic. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. As of this writing, all kids 12 to 17 are eligible for vaccinations, and we are on the precipice of having FDA authorization for kids age 5 to 11. The easiest way to avoid quarantine is to get your child vaccinated. It’s going to protect them, and it’s going to exempt them from future quar- antine if exposed. I’ve also told parents that if your school is not doing regular testing, I encourage them to talk to their administration or their district about the possibility of starting test- ing. It may be frustrating to have your child placed on quarantine, but testing stops larger outbreaks before they start. Throughout this long crisis, I remain hopeful that we will get through this. And, I’m thankful that the vaccines have given us the opportunity to get through this pan- demic faster. I also hope more parents will join me in getting their kids vaccinated so that we can avoid more unnecessary, pre- ventable illness and death in Louisiana’s children. n Theresa Sokol currently serves as the state epidemiol- ogist and programdirector for the Infectious Disease Epidemiology section of the Louisiana Office of Public Health. In this capacity, she oversees surveillance for more than 80 infectious diseases and has led Louisi- ana’s epidemiologic response to outbreaks such as hepatitisA,Zika,Mumps andmost recently,COVID-19. Sokol’s chief career interests include infectious disease epidemiology,surveillance practice and implementa- tion, and development of the public health epidemi- ology workforce. She has worked for the Louisiana Department of Health for 20 years. like masking and social distancing. We’ve suggested that schools use other fairly sim- ple techniques, such as assigned seating, to assist in contact tracing should an out- break occur. In addition, many schools are keeping children in static groups outside the classroom, like during lunch and recess, which helps narrow down the number of children needing to quarantine if one of the children in the static group — sometimes called a pod — tests positive. We’ve also provided a couple of new strategies this year that provide an exemp- tion for quarantine if someone is exposed. For example, if you’re within 3 to 6 feet of someone who tests positive for COVID, and everyone was wearing a mask, you do not need to quarantine. Also, if someone is ful- ly vaccinated and they were exposed, they also do not need to quarantine. Some have expressed surprise that we have been able to keep exposures in class- rooms relatively low, but I always point out that this is likely because most kids have adapted surprisingly well to wearing masks. My son, for example, doesn’t even seem to notice that he’s wearing a mask anymore. He is an excellent masker. What my son is not so great at is social distancing — it is against every fiber of his 10-year-old being. This is where maintain- ing static groups becomes so important; because outside the classroom, it’s very dif- ficult for children to stay distanced. At my son’s school, where the adminis- tration has taken a very cautious approach to mitigation, the kids are assigned to a static group (or pod), and if one child tests positive, all must quarantine for 14 days. That’s what happened with my son. Thank- fully, he tested negative during quarantine, but it wasn’t an easy time for our family. We are lucky that we were able to manage the Theresa Sokol State Epidemiologist Louisiana Office of Public Health