‘It’s like a wildfire:’ Ky pediatrician sees overwhelming number of kids sick with COVID

I am dismayed that the Kentucky State Legislature is willing to put kids’ lives at risk by removing the state educational mask mandate. I wish that they could see the tears on the cheeks of children infected with COVID who cry in pain. I wish they could hear the high-pitched sounds of wheezing in their chests as their bodies work to get enough oxygen.

The truth is, as a pediatrician practicing in Central Kentucky for over 15 years, I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve seen more active COVID-19 in the past few days than I have during the whole pandemic.

It’s like a wildfire: overpowering, frightening, life-threatening, and out of control. There is currently so much COVID-19 among children that it is affecting all levels of medical care and, of course, their education and every other aspect of these kids’ lives.

Although adults have been hit hard, we have not had back to back to back (to back) pediatric COVID patients at my outpatient primary care clinic. Day after day. Until now.

The irony is that the Kentucky state legislature recently passed a bill that will throw fuel on this wildfire of illness in children, leaving the decision about masks to local school boards, who may remove the requirement. If myself, and every other child health provider in the state, are firefighters against this virus, I implore school systems to help us contain, rather than exacerbate, this horrific disaster.

We know that having children wear masks at school is safe, has no harmful effects, and most of all prevents illness in both the children wearing the masks, and all the people around them. Masking in schools is recommended by the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics, among many other organizations.

If we as a society have decided that children need to be in school, and know the harmful effects when schools are shut down for a prolonged time, why would we not do everything in our power to keep the children healthy, AND keep the schools open?

Just as we do not give people a choice to drive on the wrong side of the road, because it is dangerous to the driver who breaks the rules as well as those on the road with them, we should not give people a choice about masks in schools during a pandemic. We wear them in health care settings, to protect patients, and we should wear them in schools, to protect kids.

Most children in Kentucky are not vaccinated for COVID, and therefore have no protection at all from this virus. Many of them have caregivers with underlying health conditions, infant siblings, or are in the custody of grandparents. The effects of COVID in these groups would be devastating, not to mention to the teachers who are with them all day every day.

A car wreck only affects a few parties, but a positive COVID case has a ripple effect, causing illness, disability, and possible death in the patient, as well as their family, friends, coworkers, church members, and those in contact with all of those people as well.

In addition to the sickness caused by COVID, we know that as hospitals become overwhelmed, care for other medical problems becomes difficult or impossible. In fact, I have cared for multiple patients over the past few weeks who were unable to receive the urgent care they needed, or had delayed diagnoses because of the growing lack of medical resources in our state.

Also, when a kid is sick and misses school, their parents or guardians miss work, and many Kentuckians quite literally cannot afford to miss a paycheck. Their siblings and contacts miss out on learning as well. There are almost infinite reasons to contain the spread of this virus as much and as quickly as possible.

To that end, we need everyone to help their neighbors by getting vaccinated, wearing masks, and avoiding crowds. But each person’s individual choices, like deciding which side of the road to drive on, cannot always keep society at large safe.

So I implore all local school boards and superintendents to think of the kids in Kentucky right now who are crying and struggling to breathe. Please put the health and safety of children over every other consideration. There is no valid reason to not require masks in schools during a pandemic and every reason, including saving children’s lives, to require a simple act that harms no one. Not even one more child should be “burned” in this wildfire of illness when we can prevent it.

Dr. Alison Moncayo is a primary care pediatrician who practices in Central Kentucky and lives in Lexington.