The latest rise in COVID-19 cases looks very different from the previous spikes in cases, and that creates significant opportunities for pharmacists to build connections in their communities to keep this wave from building further. One difference is that the majority of the country’s seniors have already received the vaccine and so face much less risk from SARS-CoV-2. That means much of the work done by pharmacists in getting vaccines to assisted living centers and nursing homes has been completed.

Over the past few months, several regions of the country have seen a rise in the number of cases in children and particularly in those who play youth sports. “What is happening in Michigan and Minnesota is similar to what we are seeing across the country: increasing reports of cases associated with youth sports,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. She added that the states with high infection rates are finding that most of the cases are now linked to the more contagious variant, which could explain the higher transmission rates seen among children and teens in the last month than earlier in the pandemic.

The variant is also sending a higher percentage of children and adolescents to the hospital, according to Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. Many states are reporting record highs of pediatric hospitalizations of children with COVID-19 or the related multisystem inflammatory syndrome-children.

To tamp down transmission and continue to play, sports teams need to know who is infected. While professional and college teams have employed serial testing almost since the start of the pandemic, many high school and club sports have not been as rigorous.

That casual approach looks to be changing, however. Many states encourage young athletes to seek testing at least every 2 weeks. Pharmacists have an opportunity to partner with sports leagues and local teams to establish testing protocols that make sure asymptomatic cases are captured, which typically requires at least two tests a week. Antigen tests that can quickly determine whether symptoms are caused by COVID-19, influenza, or another respiratory infection are particularly valuable to ensure proper treatment, no matter the cause.

Leagues, teams and schools still have a ways to go to refine their testing policies. Only 59% of parents of youth sports participants had received communications about when their child should be tested for COVID-19, according to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health at the University of Michigan.
 
“Parents largely felt that sports officials successfully communicated about most of their new COVID-19 policies,” said Poll codirector Sarah Clark, MPH, a research scientist at the University of Michigan Medical School. “As more youth sports resume, our poll suggests that parents will need further direction on whether, when and where their child should get tested. This is particularly important as cases are rising among younger people.” Pharmacists can step in to ensure that school and club teams know they can conveniently receive the frequent testing they need.

The content contained in this article is for informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice. Reliance on any information provided in this article is solely at your own risk.

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