Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in educational institutions, August to December 2020, Germany.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Schoeps A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8503068 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:The secondary attack rate (SAR) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was estimated, and the risk factors for infection among members of households with a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) index case were identified to inform preventive measures. Between 3 August and 19 December 2020, a household transmission study was implemented based on a standardized World Health Organization protocol. Laboratory-confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were recruited through the federal COVID-19 database. Trained contact tracers interviewed index cases and household members to collect information on demographic, clinical and behavioural factors. Contacts were followed up for 28 days to identify secondary infections. SAR was estimated and odds ratios (OR) were calculated for risk factors for transmission. In total, 383 households and 793 contacts were included in this study. The overall SAR was 17% [95% confidence interval (CI) 14-21]. Contacts had higher risk for infection if the primary case had both cough and runny nose (OR 4.31, 95% CI 1.60-11.63), if the contact was aged 18-49 years (OR 4.67, 95% CI 1.83-11.93), if the contact kissed the primary case (OR 3.16, 95% CI 1.19-8.43), or if the contact shared a meal with the primary case (OR 3.10, 95% CI 1.17-8.27). These results add to the global literature by providing evidence from a middle-income setting. Standard preventive measures in households with positive cases remain critical to reduce transmission.
| S-EPMC8479489 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe role of children in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during the early pandemic was unclear.AimWe aimed to review studies on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by children during the early pandemic.MethodsWe searched MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Europe PubMed Central and the preprint servers medRxiv and bioRxiv from 30 December 2019 to 10 August 2020. We assessed the quality of included studies using a series of questions adapted from related tools. We provide a narrative synthesis of the results.ResultsWe identified 28 studies from 17 countries. Ten of 19 studies on household and close contact transmission reported low rates of child-to-adult or child-to-child transmission. Six studies investigated transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in educational settings, with three studies reporting 183 cases from 14,003 close contacts who may have contracted COVID-19 from children index cases at their schools. Three mathematical modelling studies estimated that children were less likely to infect others than adults. All studies were of low to moderate quality.ConclusionsDuring the early pandemic, it appeared that children were not substantially contributing to household transmission of SARS-CoV-2. School-based studies indicated that transmission rates in this setting were low. Large-scale studies of transmission chains using data collected from contact tracing and serological studies detecting past evidence of infection would be needed to verify our findings.
| S-EPMC8815097 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The world is currently in a pandemic of COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease-2019) caused by a novel positive-sense, single-stranded RNA β-coronavirus referred to as SARS-CoV-2. Here we investigated rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the greater Cincinnati, Ohio, USA metropolitan area from August 13 to December 8, 2020, just prior to initiation of the national vaccination program. Examination of 9,550 adult blood donor volunteers for serum IgG antibody positivity against the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein showed an overall prevalence of 8.40%, measured as 7.56% in the first 58 days and 9.24% in the last 58 days, and 12.86% in December 2020, which we extrapolated to ~20% as of March, 2021. Males and females showed similar rates of past infection, and rates among Hispanic or Latinos, African Americans and Whites were also investigated. Donors under 30 years of age had the highest rates of past infection, while those over 60 had the lowest. Geographic analysis showed higher rates of infectivity on the West side of Cincinnati compared with the East side (split by I-75) and the lowest rates in the adjoining region of Kentucky (across the Ohio river). These results in regional seroprevalence will help inform efforts to best achieve herd immunity in conjunction with the national vaccination campaign.
| S-EPMC8279307 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In December 2020, research surveillance detected the B.1.1.7 lineage of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in São Paulo, Brazil. Rapid genomic sequencing and phylogenetic analysis revealed 2 distinct introductions of the lineage. One patient reported no international travel. There may be more infections with this lineage in Brazil than reported.
| S-EPMC7920684 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemiology in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario, Canada.MethodsUsing data through December 1, 2020, we estimated time-varying reproduction number, Rt, using EpiEstim package in R, and calculated incidence rate ratios (IRR) across the 3 provinces.ResultsIn Ontario, 76% (92 745/121 745) of cases were in Toronto, Peel, York, Ottawa, and Durham; in Alberta, 82% (49 878/61 169) in Calgary and Edmonton; in British Columbia, 90% (31 142/34 699) in Fraser and Vancouver Coastal. Across 3 provinces, Rt dropped to ≤ 1 after April. In Ontario, Rt would remain < 1 in April if congregate-setting-associated cases were excluded. Over summer, Rt maintained < 1 in Ontario, ~1 in British Columbia, and ~1 in Alberta, except early July when Rt was > 1. In all 3 provinces, Rt was > 1, reflecting surges in case count from September through November. Compared with British Columbia (684.2 cases per 100 000), Alberta (IRR = 2.0; 1399.3 cases per 100 000) and Ontario (IRR = 1.2; 835.8 cases per 100 000) had a higher cumulative case count per 100 000 population.ConclusionsAlberta and Ontario had a higher incidence rate than British Columbia, but Rt trajectories were similar across all 3 provinces.
| S-EPMC8134904 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundLittle is known about the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission in educational settings. Public Health England initiated a study, COVID-19 Surveillance in School KIDs (sKIDs), in primary schools when they partially reopened from June 1, 2020, after the first national lockdown in England to estimate the incidence of symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, seroprevalence, and seroconversion in staff and students.MethodssKIDs, an active, prospective, surveillance study, included two groups: the weekly swabbing group and the blood sampling group. The swabbing group underwent weekly nasal swabs for at least 4 weeks after partial school reopening during the summer half-term (June to mid-July, 2020). The blood sampling group additionally underwent blood sampling for serum SARS-CoV-2 antibodies to measure previous infection at the beginning (June 1-19, 2020) and end (July 3-23, 2020) of the summer half-term, and, after full reopening in September, 2020, and at the end of the autumn term (Nov 23-Dec 18, 2020). We tested for predictors of SARS-CoV-2 antibody positivity using logistic regression. We calculated antibody seroconversion rates for participants who were seronegative in the first round and were tested in at least two rounds.FindingsDuring the summer half-term, 11 966 participants (6727 students, 4628 staff, and 611 with unknown staff or student status) in 131 schools had 40 501 swabs taken. Weekly SARS-CoV-2 infection rates were 4·1 (one of 24 463; 95% CI 0·1-21·8) per 100 000 students and 12·5 (two of 16 038; 1·5-45·0) per 100 000 staff. At recruitment, in 45 schools, 91 (11·2%; 95% CI 7·9-15·1) of 816 students and 209 (15·1%; 11·9-18·9) of 1381 staff members were positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, similar to local community seroprevalence. Seropositivity was not associated with school attendance during lockdown (p=0·13 for students and p=0·20 for staff) or staff contact with students (p=0·37). At the end of the summer half-term, 603 (73·9%) of 816 students and 1015 (73·5%) of 1381 staff members were still participating in the surveillance, and five (four students, one staff member) seroconverted. By December, 2020, 55 (5·1%; 95% CI 3·8-6·5) of 1085 participants who were seronegative at recruitment (in June, 2020) had seroconverted, including 19 (5·6%; 3·4-8·6) of 340 students and 36 (4·8%; 3·4-6·6) of 745 staff members (p=0·60).InterpretationIn England, SARS-CoV-2 infection rates were low in primary schools following their partial and full reopening in June and September, 2020.FundingUK Department of Health and Social Care.
| S-EPMC9764982 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Wearing a facemask can help to decrease the transmission of COVID-19. We investigated self-reported mask use among subjects aged 18 years and older participating in the COVID-19 Community Research Partnership (CRP), a prospective longitudinal COVID-19 surveillance study in the mid-Atlantic and southeastern United States. We included those participants who completed ≥5 daily surveys each month from December 1, 2020 through August 31, 2021. Mask use was defined as self-reported use of a face mask or face covering on every interaction with others outside the household within a distance of less than 6 feet. Participants were considered vaccinated if they reported receiving ≥1 COVID-19 vaccine dose. Participants (n = 17,522) were 91% non-Hispanic White, 68% female, median age 57 years, 26% healthcare workers, with 95% self-reported receiving ≥1 COVID-19 vaccine dose through August 2021; mean daily survey response was 85%. Mask use was higher among vaccinated than unvaccinated participants across the study period, regardless of the month of the first dose. Mask use remained relatively stable from December 2020 through April (range 71-80% unvaccinated; 86-93% vaccinated) and declined in both groups beginning in mid-May 2021 to 34% and 42% respectively in June 2021; mask use increased again since July 2021. Mask use by all was lower during weekends and on Christmas and Easter, regardless of vaccination status. Independent predictors of higher mask use were vaccination, age ≥65 years, female sex, racial or ethnic minority group, and healthcare worker occupation, whereas a history of self-reported prior COVID-19 illness was associated with lower use.
| S-EPMC9181355 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesSchool closures have been used as a core non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This review aims at identifying SARS-CoV-2 transmission in educational settings during the first waves of the pandemic.MethodsThis literature review assessed studies published between December 2019 and 1 April 2021 in Medline and Embase, which included studies that assessed educational settings from approximately January 2020 to January 2021. The inclusion criteria were based on the PCC framework (P-Population, C-Concept, C-Context). The study Population was restricted to people 1-17 years old (excluding neonatal transmission), the Concept was to assess child-to-child and child-to-adult transmission, while the Context was to assess specifically educational setting transmission.ResultsFifteen studies met inclusion criteria, ranging from daycare centres to high schools and summer camps, while eight studies assessed the re-opening of schools in the 2020-2021 school year. In principle, although there is sufficient evidence that children can both be infected by and transmit SARS-CoV-2 in school settings, the SAR remain relatively low-when NPI measures are implemented in parallel. Moreover, although the evidence was limited, there was an indication that younger children may have a lower SAR than adolescents.ConclusionsTransmission in educational settings in 2020 was minimal-when NPI measures were implemented in parallel. However, with an upsurge of cases related to variants of concern, continuous surveillance and assessment of the evidence is warranted to ensure the maximum protection of the health of students and the educational workforce, while also minimising the numerous negative impacts that school closures may have on children.
| S-EPMC8983413 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Severe acute respiratorysyndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic spread rapidly and this scenario is concerning worldwide, presenting more than 590 million coronavirus disease 2019 cases and 6.4 million deaths. The emergence of novel lineages carrying several mutations in the spike protein has raised additional public health concerns worldwide during the pandemic. The present study review and summarizes the temporal spreading and molecular evolution of SARS-CoV-2 clades and variants worldwide. The evaluation of these data is important for understanding the evolutionary histories of SARSCoV-2 lineages, allowing us to identify the origins of each lineage of this virus responsible for one of the biggest pandemics in history. A total of 2897 SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequences with available information from the country and sampling date (December 2019 to August 2022), were obtained and were evaluated by Bayesian approach. The results demonstrated that the SARS-CoV-2 the time to the most recent common ancestor (tMRCA) in Asia was 2019-12-26 (highest posterior density 95% [HPD95%]: 2019-12-18; 2019-12-29), in Oceania 2020-01-24 (HPD95%: 2020-01-15; 2020-01-30), in Africa 2020-02-27 (HPD95%: 2020-02-21; 2020-03-04), in Europe 2020-02-27 (HPD95%: 2020-02-20; 2020-03-06), in North America 2020-03-12 (HPD95%: 2020-03-05; 2020-03-18), and in South America 2020-03-15 (HPD95%: 2020-03-09; 2020-03-28). Between December 2019 and June 2020, 11 clades were detected (20I [Alpha] and 19A, 19B, 20B, 20C, 20A, 20D, 20E [EU1], 20F, 20H [Beta]). From July to December 2020, 4 clades were identified (20J [Gamma, V3], 21 C [Epsilon], 21D [Eta], and 21G [Lambda]). Between January and June 2021, 3 clades of the Delta variant were detected (21A, 21I, and 21J). Between July and December 2021, two variants were detected, Delta (21A, 21I, and 21J) and Omicron (21K, 21L, 22B, and 22C). Between January and June 2022, the Delta (21I and 21J) and Omicron (21K, 21L, and 22A) variants were detected. Finally, between July and August 2022, 3 clades of Omicron were detected (22B, 22C, and 22D). Clade 19A was first detected in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (Wuhan strain) with origin in 2019-12-16 (HPD95%: 2019-12-15; 2019-12-25); 20I (Alpha) in 2020-11-24 (HPD95%: 2020-11-15; 2021-12-02); 20H (Beta) in 2020-11-25 (HPD95%: 2020-11-13; 2020-11-29); 20J (Gamma) was 2020-12-21 (HPD95%: 2020-11-05; 2021-01-15); 21A (Delta) in 2020-09-20 (HPD95%: 2020-05-17; 2021-02-03); 21J (Delta) in 2021-02-26 (2020-11-02; 2021-04-24); 21M (Omicron) in 2021-01-25 (HPD95%: 2020-09-16; 2021-08-08); 21K (Omicron) in 2021-07-30 (HPD95%: 2021-05-30; 2021-10-19); 21L (Omicron) in 2021-10-03 (HPD95%: 2021-04-16; 2021-12-23); 22B (Omicron) in 2022-01-25 (HPD95%: 2022-01-10; 2022-02-05); 21L in 2021-12-20 (HPD95%: 2021-05-16; 2021-12-31). Currently, the Omicron variant predominates worldwide, with the 21L clade branching into 3 (22A, 22B, and 22C). Phylogeographic data showed that Alpha variant originated in the United Kingdom, Beta in South Africa, Gamma in Brazil, Delta in India, Omicron in South Africa, Mu in Colombia, Epsilon in the United States of America, and Lambda in Peru. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on global health worldwide and the present study provides an overview of the molecular evolution of SARS-CoV-2 lineage clades (from the Wuhan strain to the currently circulating lineages of the Omicron).
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Project description:We determined secondary attack rates (SAR) among close contacts of 59 asymptomatic and symptomatic coronavirus disease case-patients by presymptomatic and symptomatic exposure. We observed no transmission from asymptomatic case-patients and highest SAR through presymptomatic exposure. Rapid quarantine of close contacts with or without symptoms is needed to prevent presymptomatic transmission.
| S-EPMC8007320 | biostudies-literature