Effectiveness of school or day-care center closure on rhinovirus infection during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Considering children were not likely to adhere personal preventive measures and physical distancing, the closure of day-care center and elementary school could be effective to control contagious disease. However, this strategy caused the concern for child-care problem and an education gap. <b>Objective:</b> To evaluate whether the closure of day-care center and school was effective to control contagious disease by using nationwide rhinovirus infection data in nationwide severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) dataset. <b>Methods:</b> We analyzed the rhinovirus infection data in nationwide SARI dataset, a prospectively administered survey performed from January 2020 to December 2020 by a government organization within the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. <b>Results:</b> The total number of admitted children under 12 years at 42 sentinel sites was 70,162 in 2020 and child patients with rhinovirus infection were 370 (0.5%). In this study, the prevalence of rhinovirus infection was closely associated with the closure of day care clinic and elementary school. Based on weekly report of rhinovirus infection, hospitalization due to rhinovirus infection reached nearly zero in level 2, but it substantially re-increased in level 1 (Figure 1). The number of hospitalized patients associated with rhinovirus infection per 1,000 hospitalized child patients was 6.7 in level 1 and 2.0 in level 2 (p &lt; 0.001). <b>Conclusions:</b> The closure of day-care center and school was effective to control rhinovirus infection. To prepare new pandemic, we should think about a better social system where the closure of day-care center and elementary school do not cause child-care problems and education gap.