COVID-19

I wanted to reach out to our community given the concerns about how infection may impact children with disabilities and chronic illnesses. As parents, caregivers, and clinicians, we want to support our community by disseminating useful information in order to support your efforts in caring for your child/family and loved ones. With that, current information continues to suggest that children are unlikely to become severely ill with COVID-19 infection. But, children with underlying, chronic health conditions may be at higher risk, especially those that impact the heart, lungs or ability to fight infection. Some general recommendations include:

Please consider receiving COVID-19 immunization to best protect you and your family. Follow updates on the AUCD website (aucd.org) and the CDC (cdc.gov) as vaccines become approved for younger aged children.
Medications: continue with prescribed medications as maintaining health of underlying chronic conditions is the best strategy to avoid complications associated with COVID-19 infection. Also, preventing unnecessary trips to the emergency room or hospital will decrease exposure to others who are ill. It’s also a good idea to have at least a two week supply of medications on hand.
Scheduled doctor visits: if your child is well and without fever or respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, runny nose), keep your regularly scheduled appointments to “catch-up” on any missed immunizations.
Schools: Look to your schools/school districts for further guidance on in-person attendance.
Travel: current recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control are provided here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/
Preparation: Simple measures you can take to help prevent possible infection include:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after blowing your nose, coughing, sneezing, going to the bathroom, before and after preparing food.
- If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
- Avoid sharing bath towels and kitchen towels to prevent spread of germs.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Stay home when you are sick except to get medical care.
- Cover your coughs and sneezes with tissue and throw the tissue in the trash.
- Clean/disinfect frequently touched surfaces and objects (e.g. countertops, door knobs, handles, tables).
- Wear a cloth face covering in public settings especially where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
Illness: if your child does get sick with symptoms of a cold but it is not an emergency, stay home and give your clinician a call for advice and further instruction. Most children are not sick enough to need hospitalization or emergency department care.
Talk to your children as they may also be worried. Some suggestions are provided in the following link: https://www.chla.org/blog/health-and-safety-tips/how-talk-kids-about-coronavirus.