Transcription:
Back to School with COVID-19 and the Delta Variant: Tips for Parents

Tiffany Kaczorowski (Host): Welcome to Inside Pediatrics, a podcast brought to you by Children's Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham..

Host: I'm Conan Gasque. Today, you'll hear from two pediatricians at Pediatrics East, a Children's Primary Care Practice in Trussville, Alabama in a recent Zoom meeting, Dr. Gigi Youngblood and Dr. Peily Soong, we discussed the Delta variant, the importance of getting vaccinated and back to school advice for parents. Here's my interview with Dr. Youngblood and Dr. Soong. Dr. Gigi Youngblood, we'll start with you tell us a little bit about yourself.

Gigi Youngblood, MD (Guest): So, I'm a general pediatrician out in Trussville at Pediatrics East, and I have an 11 year old daughter and an eight year old son. And we're going to talk a lot about stuff that affects them.

Host: And Dr. Peily Soong, doctor. Thanks so much for joining us. Tell us, uh, tell us about yourself a little bit.

Peily Soong, MD (Guest): Well, I'm also a general pediatrician, out in Trussvilee as well with, Dr. Youngblood and I both practice together at Pediatrics East. I too as well have two young children. I've got a 12 year old and a, almost 10 year old.

Host: So one of the big topics that a lot of people have been talking about lately, the Delta variant, it, it's something that, you know, a lot of people are asking questions about. And one of those questions is how it's different from some of the other variants that we've seen, beforehand, in this process. Dr. Youngblood, tell me a little bit about what you've kind of observed from the Delta variant.

Dr. Youngblood: So, you know, we're still learning. I mean, we're just caught in constant flux in terms of what we know. But what we're seeing is that this does appear to be different in the way that it affects, children, and in, in young adults as well. So, one of the, one of my best sources of information is my colleagues and Missouri and Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, places that have been hard hit by Delta, and they are telling me that they are definitely seeing more hospital admissions this round, of COVID than in previous waves or surges of COVID around the country.

Particularly I'm talking about my pediatric colleagues. So, their hospitals are more full than what we've seen in and as a pediatrician for me, that's very concerning. And I think that, everybody needs to be aware of that and needs to be making decisions, not based on what we did, you know, last summer, last winter, but realizing that, you know, we might be dealing with, sort of a different beast from a pediatrics standpoint.

Host: Yeah I know there's been also some talk about, how, you know, some of the previous variants, we didn't hear as much about them in children, but perhaps the Delta variant might spread more quickly in children. Dr. Soong, is that, is that an accurate assessment of to your knowledge?

Dr. Soong: That's what we are afraid of right now. Again, we are still learning about this variant, but it does appear to be more contagious, easily spreadable. Have more virus particles. And, when you do get infected, which a lot of times can lead to more transmission. And so, like I said, we are still learning about, especially in kids, but this is one where we've actually started across the country, we've really worried about children when previously, while kids were getting sick with it, it was not nearly as much as the adults. And, but this one, it does appear to be affecting children more and, young adults as well. So that includes parents and stuff. So this is still relevant to parents and stuff too, because if a caregiver gets lost. The parent is lost to COVID, or it has to be hospitalized for COVID that affects children. So our message is not just about children today it's going to be about adults as well, because these are, these are our parents.

Host: And obviously the start of school is not that far away. Parents have a lot to think about right now. Dr. Youngblood, but what are some of the things that you want parents to know about COVID-19 as students prepare for in-person classes this year?

Dr. Youngblood: Just reiterating, reiterating what I said earlier. I don't think that we can,make the same assumptions about this that we made last year. I think we need to be realizing that we might be dealing with, you know, a different version of this disease.

So I want parents to realize that every parent needs a plan. Your school needs a plan. Winging it, is not in my opinion, counting as a plan, hoping for the best, that's not a plan I would choose. That's not what I want you know, educators, administrators to choose our children. So I think we need a plan based on evidence-based guidelines.

The CDC and the AAP have been giving us really excellent guidance. It's changing. And I know that can be frustrating when you are a decision-maker. It's frustrating when you're a parent. But, it's changing because the landscape of COVID is changing, the virus is changing. And so, you know, we, we have to be willing to be flexible. And, to pivot into a direction that's going to keep our kids safe.

Host: Dr. Soong, how important is it for parents as we get closer to the story of school to really do research and pay attention to the information that is out there about how to keep your kids safe?

Dr. Soong: Oh, it's very important because I think unfortunately, a lot of the school systems here in Alabama are not going to be following guidelines. They're going to not be requiring masks in school as recommended by the CDC, by the AAP and by lots of pediatricians across the country and, and in our state and in our city. And so it's important for parents to keep up with what's going on because unfortunately, a lot of the decisions being made in schools, and in our communities are politically motivated and science is science and it shouldn't be politically motivated. And we really need to be aware of what the data is showing, what the recommendations of the people that are are making the recommendations are saying, so parents need to be aware of just because my school says, oh, it's fine to not have masks in school. It may not actually be scientifically appropriate not to send your kids to school without a mask.

Host: And obviously vaccinations or another big topic and a decision that some parents, if they have kids of a certain age, will have to make about whether or not they want their kids to get vaccinated. Dr. Youngblood, what would your advice be to parents about making that decision?

Dr. Youngblood: So, in general with very, very few exceptions, I really want my patients who are 12 years and up protected against this virus. The vaccination is our best option. It's it's the most effective option. Unfortunately, it's not an option for our younger patients. But you know, we're working on that.

If a parent has specific concerns, you know, first of all, as pediatricians, we hear lots of concerns about vaccines. We understand that. It's scary to make decisions as a parent that will affect your children. So I would really, really encourage parents to reach out and talk with their pediatrician if they are hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccine, but as a general statement, I would strongly support the vast, vast majority of children taking advantage of that opportunity to avoid you know, this terrible virus.

Host: Dr. Soong, how much of a difference can vaccinations make in the way that this school year plays out and the health of children across alabama?

Dr. Soong: Well, we do know vaccinations while there are what we call or what the media is calling breakthrough cases, where the vaccine isn't preventing symptomatic disease. It is preventing hospitalizations. The vast majority of people being hospitalized are un-vaccinated as most people have probably heard already in the news, but that, that is really important. The goal of the vaccinations to start with, work to prevent hospitalization, to prevent serious illness. It was not necessarily to prevent symptomatic cases or mild cases. We are fortunate that the vaccine initially on was very good against preventing symptomatic cases with the initial virus and with some of the subsequent variants. But this Delta seems to breaking through the vaccine, but it's still prevents you from getting really sick. And again, I stress that everybody needs to go out and get their vaccines 12 and above. We are seeing kids in the hospital getting COVID. We're seeing parents getting hospitalized. All those things can affect children now in the short-term as well in the long-term if a parent dies with COVID, has serious long-term effect from COVID that affects children.

Host: You mentioned the breakthrough cases and that possibility, and I'll let both of you answer this, because of that possibility, do you think it's important, even for people who have been vaccinated to make sure that they're still wearing masks?

Dr. Soong: I do. I, I think, because there, there can be some breakthrough cases and when because of our vaccination rates are so low right now in our state and as well as children under 12, can't be vaccinated. If, even if you're vaccinated, you have a mild illness, you are still able to pass it on to somebody else. You're able to pass it onto your younger kids. You're able to pass it on to your younger kid's neighbors incarpool. So, it is still important for you to wear your mask when you are around other people, especially indoors, even if you are vaccinated, you really should be wearing a mask.

Host: Dr. Youngblood, what are your thoughts about masking for people who are vaccinated?

Dr. Youngblood: So, I think it's been confusing if so much of the recommendations that have been made, there's a lot of nuance there. And I think it's confusing when, you know, two months ago the recommendations are, oh, if you're fully vaccinated, you don't need to wear a mask. But what we just have to keep focusing on is that this is changing. And so the recommendations are going to change in real time and they should, that's appropriate. So I think when people said last month, you said, I didn't have to wear a mask if I were vaccinated. And now you're telling me, you know, I do.

That's why it's because the virus is changing. And if we don't change in response to that, it's going to be really, really bad. And so we have to stay on top of these things and we really, really need our parents and our patients to be flexible, just like we're having to be flexible as we learn new things.

And so the masking would definitely fall under that, but I can understand it's confusing. And it does seem like, you know, everything's going back and forth and back and forth. And, and what do I believe today? And that's where your trusted pediatrician, your trusted family doctor can play a really important role, helping you sort all of this out.

And there's so much bad information out there. Please be careful about your sources. And again, when in doubt, this is, this is what we do. This is bread and butter pediatrics. We want to prevent diseases. That's our favorite thing to do is not treat once they're sick. We like to prevent. That's, that's why I went into pediatrics.

So, I love to talk to families if they have some confusion about all of this.

Host: Very important for parents to speak with their pediatricians. Like the two that we have here today, once again, Dr. Gigi Youngblood and Dr. Peily Soong. Thanks so much for your time and thanks to everyone for watching. That'll do it for our COVID-19 Zoom panel.

Tiffany Kaczorowski (Host): Thanks for listening to Inside Pediatrics. More podcasts like this one can be found at children'sal.org/inside pediatrics.