Could America's college students actually serve as a major part of the 'solution' to the COVID-19 problem?

Two different trains of thought led me to envision American college students as the possible ‘solution’ to the COVID-19 pandemic.

First, Steve Hilton (FoxNews) voiced a valid question on his show (The Next Revolution) on 3/16/20, asking why we need to close schools and universities (because children and young people have relatively low risk of serious complications from SARS-CoV2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), with epidemiologists estimating the fatality rate of 0-15 year-olds as zero, using data from Wuhan) instead of focusing our efforts specifically on isolating and protecting the most vulnerable in society (the elderly and those with certain pre-existing health conditions).

Second, there have been multiple reports about an extremely promising potential treatment for SARS-CoV2, that uses plasma from infection patients who have recovered:

• Report: Plasma Therapy Showing ‘Excellent’ Results Against Coronavirus
• How blood plasma from recovered patients could help treat the new coronavirus

So, here is a proposed ‘solution’ to the problem (not a solution, per se, but an approach that maximizes our chances of protecting the most vulnerable while minimizing overall disruption):

• Bring all university students back to their campuses (except those who have pre-existing respiratory illnesses or are otherwise immunocompromised or are otherwise concerned about exposure).
• Conduct face-to-face classes ‘as normal’ except that: professors who have pre-existing illnesses or are immunocompromised or are otherwise concerned about exposure (e.g. due to age) will be provided the necessary technology to remotely teach their classes (i.e. the students will still meet together in their normal classrooms, but the professor will be remote).
• Enact favorable ‘excused absence’ policies for any students who test positive for coronavirus and need to miss classes.
• Allow university staff who have pre-existing illnesses or are immunocompromised or are otherwise concerned about exposure (e.g. due to their own age or who have elderly individuals living at home with them) to telecommute.
• Establish robust procedures to facilitate donation of plasma by those students who recover from a coronavirus infection.

Who best to be antibody-laden-plasma donors than college-aged students?  They are least at risk for complications from coronavirus and most suitable to be future plasma donors.  While they are at the university, their physical interaction with elderly family members will be at a minimum (i.e. it will be much safer for their elderly relatives having those students back on campus rather than having the students sequestered at home with them).  The students’ learning can continue at a relatively normal pace.

When it comes to ‘flattening the curve‘, I can think of no better way to accomplish that than letting those who are least at risk to complications and already socially-distanced from vulnerable populations (by living on or near campus) to live life as normally as possible, be potentially exposed to the virus via a closely monitored process of ‘community spread’, and be in a strong position to donate antibody-laden plasma once those treatments are perfected.  Sounds like a win-win to me.  This solution makes sense to me (from an engineering and ‘logic’ perspective).  I invite experts who are well-versed in epidemiology to debate this issue among themselves, but to do so ‘out in the open’ so the rest of us can ‘listen in’.

NOTE:  This post was originally published on 3/17/20 on ISFE’s website (fe.okstate.edu).  At that time, we did not have an active blog.  I have reposted it here, backdated it to the original posting date, and separated it from its sister post.

Steve Trost is Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise and can be contacted at trost@okstate.edu.  He has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from MIT, a master’s degree and PhD in engineering from Oklahoma State University and a PhD in entrepreneurship (also from OSU).

Follow Dr. Trost on twitter: @TrostParadox

Organizational Disclaimer:  All comments, observations, and statements presented herein represent the opinions of the author and in no way reflect the views of Oklahoma State University or the Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise.

Author Disclaimer: I am an engineer by training, not an epidemiologist.  I am applying an engineering mindset to this problem (which may or may not be ‘correct’).  I invite experts in epidemiology to openly debate this (or similar) proposed solutions.