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Covid

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Original poster

If CV is rampant in schools, will there be herd immunity in them soon?

52 replies

Marcellemouse · 08/10/2020 16:35

If loads of DC have CV and are asymptomatic do you think more of them have it than we think? If so could this mean school are likely to be much 'safer' and less disrupted soon?

OP posts:
feelingverylazytoday · 08/10/2020 16:40

I don't know about schools but I would imagine it will burn through universities until they reach that magic 20%.

myrtilles · 08/10/2020 16:41

I don't know of any confirmed cases at schools in my area at present.

I doubt herd immunity will be allowed to happen in schools if they are following a policy of sending the year group home every time a case is confirmed.

More chance of herd immunity in student halls I'd have thought. I think that uni halls are where the virus is spreading at the moment. Students in halls are in large households eg flats with 10 students sharing a kitchen so once one person in the household gets it the chances are the rest of the household will get it too.

Feminist10101 · 08/10/2020 16:44

Antibodies don’t appear to last long enough for herd immunity.

loulouljh · 08/10/2020 16:51

I don't know..but they won't necessarily get sent home. Most people with CV don't know they have it so hopefully thats' the case and it is being spread around leading to herd immunity.

feelingverylazytoday · 08/10/2020 16:52

@Feminist10101

Antibodies don’t appear to last long enough for herd immunity.
Luckily we have B cells then, which act as a memory device to reenact antibodies in the case of reinfection. I think things will probably settle down in schools a bit in the next few weeks, OP.
Silversun83 · 08/10/2020 16:58

@myrtilles

I don't know of any confirmed cases at schools in my area at present.

I doubt herd immunity will be allowed to happen in schools if they are following a policy of sending the year group home every time a case is confirmed.

More chance of herd immunity in student halls I'd have thought. I think that uni halls are where the virus is spreading at the moment. Students in halls are in large households eg flats with 10 students sharing a kitchen so once one person in the household gets it the chances are the rest of the household will get it too.

Yep.

Same experience with schools here whereas I work in a small HEI and cases are widespread. Our local area has always had low numbers of cases and they are now increasing in line with the uni cases. Neighbouring local areas (with no unis) have always had similar numbers of cases but are not increasing as fast as ours..

Original poster
Marcellemouse · 08/10/2020 17:00

@feelingverylazytoday I hope so. We've only had one confirmed case so far, but I'm dreading the email to say my DC have to self isolate. DS is due to do GCSEs so worried about disruption.

OP posts:
herecomesthsun · 08/10/2020 17:04

@Feminist10101

Antibodies don’t appear to last long enough for herd immunity.
That's what I was gonna say Grin
Qasd · 08/10/2020 17:08

I mean there would have to be a lot of asyptomatic spread because it really does not seem to be that rife in schools despite what mumsnet tells you. I have not heard of a single school break outbreak with more than ten involved. My son’s school for example had one confined case in teaching assistant, shut bubble but no further confirmed cases in the school either in the year group affected or the rest. So either it didn’t spread or all spread was without symptoms. That doesn’t feel like the sort of thing that is going to give protection to a community of 700 people any time soon unless it’s way more than 20 percent genuine non symptoms cases!

Whatshouldicallme · 08/10/2020 17:09

There are already a number of documented cases of people catching covid twice. Given this, herd immunity in any setting seems unlikely in any setting.

GingerandTilly · 08/10/2020 17:11

Sadly I don’t think so because the antibodies don’t last long and because the virus mutates into different strains, which is a shame because it’s certainly rampaging through schools in the North East...

Jrobhatch29 · 08/10/2020 17:14

@GingerandTilly

Sadly I don’t think so because the antibodies don’t last long and because the virus mutates into different strains, which is a shame because it’s certainly rampaging through schools in the North East...
I'm in the NE and cases are really high in my town. There have been bubbles closed in quite a few schools but mainly due to isolated cases, or a couple of cases. I wouldn't say there has been huge outbreaks in any of the schools where I am
Original poster
Marcellemouse · 08/10/2020 17:28

Maybe the rates seem high in universities due to mass testing. Might be similar in schools but we don't realise.

OP posts:
myrtilles · 08/10/2020 17:34

Not all the universities are mass testing so the numbers at some institutions will be far higher than the official figures. Eg. in some cases only the first person in a block with symptoms is tested, most of the rest are going on to develop symptoms but are not being tested as they are self isolating anyway and there aren't enough tests to go round.

Bucolicky · 08/10/2020 17:37

I took myself and youngest child to be tested today, and after that experience I can't believe that there are many reliable results for children. Self-swabbing (or parent-child swabbing) in the back seat of a car, trying to juggle a test tube with solution, and then rub the swab for 15 seconds (!!) over the tonsils WITHOUT touching any other part of the mouth, tongue or lips, followed by the same 15 seconds as far up a nostril as poss. Quite a few younger children there at the walk-in bit being pinned down by stressed parents, crying and flailing as parents were trying to rub a swab onto the littlies' tonsils without touching any of the mouth. How on earth will this yield any reliable results?

Sunflowers247 · 08/10/2020 17:44

I mean there would have to be a lot of asyptomatic spread because it really does not seem to be that rife in schools despite what mumsnet tells you. I have not heard of a single school break outbreak with more than ten involved.

But you wouldn't know because loads of kids have it without knowing ( and therefore not getting tested)!

Barbie222 · 08/10/2020 18:07

@Bucolicky

I took myself and youngest child to be tested today, and after that experience I can't believe that there are many reliable results for children. Self-swabbing (or parent-child swabbing) in the back seat of a car, trying to juggle a test tube with solution, and then rub the swab for 15 seconds (!!) over the tonsils WITHOUT touching any other part of the mouth, tongue or lips, followed by the same 15 seconds as far up a nostril as poss. Quite a few younger children there at the walk-in bit being pinned down by stressed parents, crying and flailing as parents were trying to rub a swab onto the littlies' tonsils without touching any of the mouth. How on earth will this yield any reliable results?
I also wondered that. Apparently many parents just swab the nose.
Porcupineinwaiting · 08/10/2020 18:08

Judging by what is happening in other countries, even if we just let go and let it spread it would be at least 6 months of chaos before it started dying down naturally. And yes there are quite a lot of reports now of people catching it twice.

Barbie222 · 08/10/2020 18:09

Anecdotally a lot of staff seem to have it, but I guess they're the ones that show symptoms and get tested.

Smallsteps88 · 08/10/2020 18:14

@Bucolicky

I took myself and youngest child to be tested today, and after that experience I can't believe that there are many reliable results for children. Self-swabbing (or parent-child swabbing) in the back seat of a car, trying to juggle a test tube with solution, and then rub the swab for 15 seconds (!!) over the tonsils WITHOUT touching any other part of the mouth, tongue or lips, followed by the same 15 seconds as far up a nostril as poss. Quite a few younger children there at the walk-in bit being pinned down by stressed parents, crying and flailing as parents were trying to rub a swab onto the littlies' tonsils without touching any of the mouth. How on earth will this yield any reliable results?
Totally agree. I’ve had to swab my 11 year old who understands the process and what it’s for, it was really hard! There is no way the results from small children can be reliable. I was imagining a family with lots of small DC trying to do it and giving up because it’s just so stressful.
cologne4711 · 08/10/2020 18:23

A friend of mine in Germany is tested every 2 weeks because she is a teacher and she says they swab her cheek. If they can do that, why can't we? I would have thought it would be much more effective than making people gag whole sticking the swab down their throat.

youdidask · 08/10/2020 18:42

Antibodies don't seem to be present after a few months.
Confirmed case of cv in March not showing antibodies this week

neveradullmoment99 · 08/10/2020 19:12

@Feminist10101

Antibodies don’t appear to last long enough for herd immunity.
2-3 months at best they are saying.
feelingverylazytoday · 08/10/2020 19:12

@youdidask

Antibodies don't seem to be present after a few months. Confirmed case of cv in March not showing antibodies this week
Antibodies are only one part of the immunilogical response. Many young healthy people do not even need to produce antibodies. Their T cells do a perfectly adequate job of protecting them. Antibodies would be the second line of defence. It's very possible that today's children and young adults won't need to be vaccinated against covid-19 in the future. They will develop immunity to it over time.
Original poster
Marcellemouse · 08/10/2020 19:24

@feelingverylazytoday that's the most positive thing I've heard for ages. Thank you.

OP posts: