The global spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection has resulted in temporary school closures in most countries in the spring of 2020 and partially in 2021, impacting more than 90 percent of students worldwide, or about 1.6 billion children and youth. In Italy, the closure of iThe global spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection has resulted in temporary school closures in most countries in the spring of 2020 and partially in 2021, impacting more than 90 percent of students worldwide, or about 1.6 billion children and adolescents. In Italy, the closure of schools and its partial replacement by distance learning has been on going longer than in any other European country. The numbers are unprecedented and the implications enormous on society.
The World Health Organization has repeatedly spoken out about the risk this poses to children’s education and personal The World Health Organization has repeatedly alerted about the risk this poses to children’s education and development.
Balanced choices are therefore needed, to minimize the infectious risk and to reduce the negative impact of the prolonged lack of educational input and adequate times and ways of socialization.
This pilot study aims to evaluate SARS-CoV-2 transmission and the effectiveness of different containment measures (masks, spacing, ventilation, etc.). We will evaluate in particular a measure that seems to be very effective and non-invasive and could support school opening in the future: SARS-CoV-2 screening through PCR saliva tests with the Lolli Method. We will also study the psychological impact of different measures and any associated learning loss. Giving children, young people and teachers a voice by collecting their reactions and the implications on their quality of life. This point of view seems to us to be a fundamental point and so far quite neglected. For that reason a European student association, OBESSU, is also involved in the project, and was involved in drafting the scientific protocol together with internationally renowned virologists, physicians, epidemiologists and statisticians.
The EuCARE project is funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe, involves 27 partners on 4 continents for a total of nearly 10 million in funding and is led by the Italian research group EuResist Network with Dr. Francesca Incardona as coordinator. The schools study, one of the four main studies of the project, is coordinated by the University of Cologne and involves IEO in Milan, with Prof. Sara Gandini, DISTEBA at the University of Salento, with Prof. Pier Luigi Lopalco, New University of Lisbon, with Prof. Ana Abecasis and JGC Hospital in Mexico, with Prof. Gibran Quintanares, as well as the EuResist Network itself, the aforementioned OBESSU and IBM, UCL and University of Tübingen for data analysis with AI methods.
The pilot study will last until the end of the school year to verify the functioning of the complex machinery of the study and to collect the first data. The main study will then start in September with the beginning of the school year and with the involvement of more schools in Italy and abroad.
At this stage, a school in the province of Lodi has begun the study: Istituto Maria Ausiliatrice Delle Salesiane Di Don Bosco; and three in the province of Lecce are about to start: the Liceo scientifico “Vallone,” di Galatina (Lecce), the Liceo scientifico “De Giorgi” and the Ist. comprensivo “Ammirato-Falcone” in Lecce.
The “Lolli-Methode” was designed by the University of Cologne and has been implemented in about 3700 schools in Germany and 400 schools in Mexico. It is a two-stage method, very precise, non-invasive and inexpensive so it can be implemented on a large scale. In the first stage, salivary swabs from an entire class are analyzed all together with a PCR test, so it is very reliable. If the result is positive, it means that at least one of the components of the class is positive so the next day the second stage is carried out: the salivary swabs of the class are analyzed individually and the positives are detected. If the result on the class is negative, it means that there are no positives in the class and it is not necessary to do the individual tests, thus saving a lot of money.
The effectiveness of the Lolli-Methode in preventing and/or reducing the extent of Covid-19 outbreaks is being evaluated by a randomized trial comparing the infections in classes assigned to the Lolli-Methode (“intervention group”) with those identified in classes that continue tracking according to standard rules (“control group”).
In the elementary school in Lodi, we started last Monday, and already one child has been found to be swab positive. This means that the method and structure are working. Early detection of positives makes it possible to prevent the virus from spreading, leading to the eventual closure of the class.
The ultimate goal of the study is to identify an effective and sustainable method that allows students to continue going to school without interrupting in-person instruction, enjoying the necessary social interaction to the fullest while reducing the fear of infection. Only a scientific study on real data designed specifically to investigate the risks and benefits of prevention measures can answer the questions that remain unanswered. That is why the adherence of schools and students to the study is very important.