KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City-area doctors are debunking some common myths around masks as children and families prepare to head back to school as COVID-19 cases surge in the metro.
Doctors said the best way to keep children safe and in school are the same things they've been preaching throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, such as social distancing and masking.
On Thursday's University of Kansas Health System daily medical call, doctors were asked if wearing masks is hampering immune systems and potentially causing more cases of RSV.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infectious disease and control at the University of Kansas Health System, said masks do not cause a reduction in immune systems.
"We humans, our immune system has been trained and developed over generations and thousands of years," Hawkinson said. "So wearing these masks in these times is not causing a reduction in your immune system."
Hawkinson said he believes returning to non-masking and an increase in group gatherings are likely factors contributing to the spread of RSV currently.
