- While school closure is likely a large factor in transmission reduction among school-aged children, this study doesn’t assess influenza A incidence with other transmission control adjustments.
- Few studies have been conducted among transmission in schools.

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Since school transmission rates of SARS-CoV-2 have been greatly limited by global school closures, the authors suggest we may be underestimating transmission risk among school-aged children when we reopen schools. They propose influenza A could be a potential surrogate marker to estimate the impact of school closure and other prevention strategies for transmission reduction of SARS-CoV-2 among children. They reference Israel, South Korea, and France as examples where officials have closed schools shortly after re-opening due to COVID-19 outbreaks.

Dramatic decrease of laboratory‐confirmed influenza A after school closure in response to COVID‐19: Conclusion

Perez‐Lopez A, Hasan M, Iqbal M, Janahi M, Roscoe D, Tang P. Dramatic decrease of laboratory‐confirmed influenza A after school closure in response to COVID‐19. Pediatric Pulmonology. 2020;1–2.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppul.24933

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