Why do children attend school, engage in other activities or socialise when they have symptoms of an infectious illness? A cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVES: To prevent the spread of infectious disease, children are typically asked not to attend school, clubs or other activities, or socialise with others while they have specific symptoms. Despite this, many children continue to participate in these activities while symptomatic. DESIGN AND SETTING: We commissioned a national cross-sectional survey with data collected between 19 November and 18 December 2021. PARTICIPANTS: Eligible parents (n=941) were between 18 and 75 years of age, lived in the UK and had at least one child aged between 4 and 17 years. Parents were recruited from a pre-existing pool of potential respondents who had already expressed an interest in receiving market research surveys. OUTCOME MEASURES: Parents were asked whether their children had exhibited either recent vomiting, diarrhoea, high temperature/fever, a new continuous cough, a loss or change to their sense of taste or smell in the absence of a negative (PCR) COVID-19 test ('stay-at-home symptoms') since September 2021 and whether they attended school, engaged in other activities outside the home or socialised with members of another household while symptomatic ('non-adherent'). We also measured parent's demographics and attitudes about illness. RESULTS: One-third (33%, n=84/251, 95% CI: 28% to 39%) of children were 'non-adherent' in that they had attended activities outside the home or socialised when they had stay-at-home symptoms. Children were significantly more likely to be non-adherent when parents were aged 45 and younger; they allowed their children to make their own decisions about school attendance; they agreed that their child should go to school if they took over-the-counter medication; or they believed that children should go to school if they have mild symptoms of illness. CONCLUSION: To reduce the risk of spreading disease, parents and teenagers need guidance to help them make informed decisions about engaging in activities and socialising with others while unwell.

Why did some parents not send their children back to school following school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: On 23 March 2020, schools closed to most children in England in response to COVID-19 until September 2020. Schools were kept open to children of key workers and vulnerable children on a voluntary basis. Starting 1 June 2020, children in reception (4-5 years old), year 1 (5-6 years old) and year 6 (10-11 years old) also became eligible to attend school. Methods: 1373 parents or guardians of children eligible to attend school completed a cross-sectional survey between 8 and 11 June 2020. We investigated factors associated with whether children attended school or not. Results: 46% (n=370/803) of children in year groups eligible to attend school and 13% (n=72/570) of children of key workers had attended school in the past 7 days. The most common reasons for sending children to school were that the child's education would benefit, the child wanted to go to school and the parent needed to work. A child was significantly more likely to attend if the parent believed the child had already had COVID-19, they had special educational needs or a person in the household had COVID-19 symptoms. Conclusions: Following any future school closure, helping parents to feel comfortable returning their child to school will require policy makers and school leaders to communicate about the adequacy of their policies to: (A) ensure that the risk to children in school is minimised; (B) ensure that the educational potential within schools is maximised; and (C) ensure that the benefits of school for the psychological well-being of children are prioritised.