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ABSTRACT: Objectives
The objective of this study was to inform public health practitioners who are designing, adapting and implementing testing and tracing strategies for Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) control.Study design
The study design is monitoring and evaluation of a national public health protection programme.Methods
All close contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 identified between the 19th May and 2nd August were included; secondary attack rates and numbers needed to test were estimated.Results
Four thousand five hundred eighty six of 7272 (63%) close contacts of cases were tested with at least one test. The secondary attack rate in close contacts who were tested was 7% (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 6.3 - 7.8%). At the 'day 0' test, 14.6% (95% CI: 11.6-17.6%) of symptomatic close contacts tested positive compared with 5.2% (95% CI: 4.4-5.9%) of asymptomatic close contacts.Conclusions
The application of additional symptom-based criteria for testing in this high-incidence population (close contacts) is of limited utility because of the low negative predictive value of absence of symptoms.
SUBMITTER: Carroll C
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7577651 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Carroll C C Conway R R O'Donnell D D Norton C C Hogan E E Browne M M Buckley C M CM Kavanagh P P Martin J J Doyle S S
Public health 20201021
<h4>Objectives</h4>The objective of this study was to inform public health practitioners who are designing, adapting and implementing testing and tracing strategies for Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) control.<h4>Study design</h4>The study design is monitoring and evaluation of a national public health protection programme.<h4>Methods</h4>All close contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 identified between the 19th May and 2nd August were included; secondary attack rates and numbers ne ...[more]