Keiko Shikako-Thomas, PhD, Canada Research Chair in Childhood Disability:
@ChildBrightNet has supported a quick look at the current research to answer your exact question. What we found, unfortunately, is that children with brain-based disabilities are not represented in the research on COVID to date. What it means is that we don’t really know if we haven’t asked children with COVID if they also have a #disability, or if this information has not been reported in current public health initiatives. We can’t tell, from the current research, if this group is at higher risk.
General guidelines alert for possible higher risks due to frequent co-morbidities that children with disabilities may have, which may put them at risk of using the healthcare system more often, or needing hospital visits for other reasons associated to their disability.
We will look at the research evidence again in a few months and see if there is more info. In the meantime we’re also pledging for better data collection on this population. You can see the full review here child-bright.ca/new-blog/2020/ and stay tuned to a survey coming out soon!
