The number of COVID patients at The University of Kansas Health System has not changed much. 35 patients with the active virus are being treated, down from 40 yesterday. 12 of those patients are in the ICU, down from 13 yesterday. Nine of those patients are on ventilators, the same as yesterday. 13 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID but are out of the acute infection phase, down from 16 yesterday. That’s a total of 48 patients, down from 56 yesterday. HaysMed has six patients today, down from eight yesterday.
When asked about the reasons hospitalized COVID patients were giving about not being vaccinated, Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at The University of Kansas Health System said that they are seeing a lot of younger patients and many of them believed that – because of their age – they were not susceptible to COVID or serious symptoms. Dr. Hawkinson again reiterated the importance of the vaccine for all people over 12.
Today’s guests included Dr. Mitchell Douglass, Medical Director of the Marillac Campus, and psychologist Dr. Danielle Johnson to talk about the mental impact of kids returning to school during this era of COVID.
“Some of the kids I’ve worked with are concerned with, “well if I wear a mask, but my friends don’t like it, how does that impact me? What if I’m made fun of?’” said Dr. Johnson. She said how kids are perceived by their peers is a very important issue.
Dr. Douglass said that at the beginning of every school year, the need for inpatient psychiatric services skyrockets. One of the differences versus last year is that many students were learning remotely for the start of school and this year, most are returning to in-person learning. This can add to the stress level for children as they deal with the normal stresses of back-to-school with the added pressures of the pandemic.
A recent Children’s Mercy study looked at implementing a hospital-wide program to identify teens with elevated risk of suicide. Patients 12 years and older were screened for suicide risk. Nearly 140,000 screens were completed and 6.8 percent were seen to be positive for elevated suicide risk.
While that number may seem shocking, Dr. Douglass said that seems low, based on other numbers he’s seen. “I think it’s a really big indication that we should be doing the screening in schools. Wherever the kids are, we should do it.”
He said we are seeing an increase, particularly with females, who are presenting with increased stress that are resulting in suicide attempts. There’s good data that screening does lead to better outcomes because kids can get the help they need.
Good listening skills are also important, Dr. Johnson added. Looking for signs of self-harm are essential. In fact, direct questions should be asked like “Are you thinking about hurting yourself? Are you thinking about dying? Do you ever feel like you want to fall asleep and never wake up?” These are serious signs. You are not prompting or encouraging it, you are increasing the chance that they may survive, she said.
They were asked a community question about if kids should be nervous about getting the COVID vaccine. The doctors reiterated that they’ve not seen any significant problems with kids after getting the vaccine – mostly sore arms. There are extreme benefits to getting the vaccine compare to minimal risks for any adverse events.
Another question was around their opinion about which scenario would cause more mental health issues for children – kids wearing masks in schools or kids at home for virtual learning. Dr. Douglass referred to a July statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics which states that being in school and having as much normalization as possible is the best thing for children.
“Most kids do better with a lot of adults with masks,” Dr. Johnson said. “If this is what it takes to get kids in school, great, let’s do that.”
Dr. Douglass said that there is strong data that we can have a safe school environment with hand washing, masking, social distancing. When schools open and forgo those protocols, it is not surprising that they need to close down due to outbreaks.
“We know based on very good data how to keep schools open, how to keep children safe, those families safe, and of course the adults in those schools safe,” Dr. Hawkinson added.
A community question was asked around bullying of kids for wearing masks. The doctors said when schools don’t mandate them and parents feel more comfortable sending their kids to school with masks, it can be a tough situation for masked children when interacting with children who don’t wear masks.
It is important for parents to show the right modeling by wearing their own masks and reaffirming that this is what is helping keep people safer. “We need to continue to promote the science and the medicine and do those things that we have shown to work from this last year of school,” Dr. Douglass said.
When asked about the status of vaccines for kids 12 and under, Dr. Hawkinson was not sure when the CDC would announce a new timeline, but is hopeful for mid-fall.
Friday, August 6 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update with Follow-Up Friday featuring Dr. Hawkinson and Dr. Stites to answer COVID questions heading into the weekend.
NOTE: Journalists should rejoin the Morning Medical Update at 8am as doctors are growing too busy again for individual interview requests. Please bring questions or send to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu until further notice. Thanks for all you do and helping to keep the community safe with your reporting.
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