Are schools drivers of COVID-19 infections—an analysis of outbreaks in Colorado, USA in 2020

Lakha, Fatim; King, A; Swinkels, K; Lee, A C K

doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdab213

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…A recent study conducted in USA investigated differences among three waves and among different working places, finding that schools experienced 11% of identified outbreaks, yet involved just 4% of total cases, whereas adult education outbreaks (2%) accounted for disproportionately more cases (9%). The authors concluded that schools were not the key driver of the latest wave in infections [61]. Some studies found an increase in infections with opening of schools, but they are mainly modeling studies [62,63].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SARS-CoV-2 Circulation in the School Setting: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Caini¹,

Martinoli

Vecchia

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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The contribution of children to viral spread in schools is still debated. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies to investigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the school setting. Literature searches on 15 May 2021 yielded a total of 1088 publications, including screening, contact tracing, and seroprevalence studies. MOOSE guidelines were followed, and data were analyzed using random-effects models. From screening studies involving more than 120,000 subjects, we estimated 0.31% (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.05–0.81) SARS-CoV-2 point prevalence in schools. Contact tracing studies, involving a total of 112,622 contacts of children and adults, showed that onward viral transmission was limited (2.54%, 95% CI 0.76–5.31). Young index cases were found to be 74% significantly less likely than adults to favor viral spread (odds ratio (OR) 0.26, 95% CI 0.11–0.63) and less susceptible to infection (OR 0.60; 95% CI 0.25–1.47). Lastly, from seroprevalence studies, with a total of 17,879 subjects involved, we estimated that children were 43% significantly less likely than adults to test positive for antibodies (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.49–0.68). These findings may not applied to the Omicron phase, we further planned a randomized controlled trial to verify these results.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SARS-CoV-2 Circulation in the School Setting: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Caini¹,

Martinoli

Vecchia

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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“…21 These findings align with studies conducted globally, whereby outbreaks in school settings documented limited transmission. Other studies have associated low transmission with the implementation of public health measures [22][23][24] ; further, when schools have reopened, they have not been associated with increases in community transmission. 25 26 Even when cases have increased in communities following school openings, it is challenging to disentangle whether increases in school outbreak incidence may have led to an increase in community incidence, as workplace mobility patterns also play a role in community incidence.…”

Section: Discussion and Policy Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterising COVID-19 school and childcare outbreaks in Canada in 2021: a surveillance study

Patterson,

McGill,

Dam

et al. 2024

bmjph

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BackgroundIn January 2021, the Public Health Agency of Canada launched the Canadian COVID-19 Outbreak Surveillance System to monitor outbreaks by setting. Schools and childcare centres were identified as settings of interest, as children play a key role in the transmission chain of other respiratory illnesses. This paper describes outbreak trends observed in school and childcare settings from January to December 2021 when many public health measures were in place.MethodsSchool and childcare outbreak data from five jurisdictions were included, representing 76% of the total Canadian population. Epidemiological curves were generated, trends in outbreak settings and cases’ age distribution over time were examined and descriptive statistics on outbreak size were calculated.ResultsIn 2021, most school and childcare outbreaks were in primary schools (42%). Severity was low in school and childcare settings (0.40% of outbreak cases hospitalised, <0.01% of outbreak cases deceased). Most school and childcare outbreaks reported fewer than 10 cases per outbreak. During the start of the 2021–2022 school year (September 2021), there were fewer outbreaks in secondary schools and fewer cases among those aged 12+ years compared with January–June of 2021.ConclusionDuring the study period, there was no observed association between an increase in school and childcare outbreaks and an increase in incidence rates in community case data. Children remain a population of interest for SARS-CoV-2; however, severity in paediatric populations remained low throughout 2021 and the risk of transmission in Canadian schools was low.

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“…Other scientific works address multiple infection sources, such as in the workplace, leisure, educational and sanitary centers ( 29 ). For example, in Lakha et al ( 30 ), most of the identified outbreaks started in workplaces, educational centers, and healthcare facilities, whereas the number of primary infections having a social origin was small.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 outbreaks analysis in the Valencian Region of Spain in the prelude of the third wave

Fuente

Hervás

Rebollo

et al. 2022

Front. Public Health

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IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented social and mobility restrictions on a global scale. Since its start in the spring of 2020, numerous scientific papers have been published on the characteristics of the virus, and the healthcare, economic and social consequences of the pandemic. However, in-depth analyses of the evolution of single coronavirus outbreaks have been rarely reported.MethodsIn this paper, we analyze the main properties of all the tracked COVID-19 outbreaks in the Valencian Region between September and December of 2020. Our analysis includes the evaluation of the origin, dynamic evolution, duration, and spatial distribution of the outbreaks.ResultsWe find that the duration of the outbreaks follows a power-law distribution: most outbreaks are controlled within 2 weeks of their onset, and only a few last more than 2 months. We do not identify any significant differences in the outbreak properties with respect to the geographical location across the entire region. Finally, we also determine the cluster size distribution of each infection origin through a Bayesian statistical model.DiscussionWe hope that our work will assist in optimizing and planning the resource assignment for future pandemic tracking efforts.

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Are schools drivers of COVID-19 infections—an analysis of outbreaks in Colorado, USA in 2020

Cited by 7 publications

References 30 publications

SARS-CoV-2 Circulation in the School Setting: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

SARS-CoV-2 Circulation in the School Setting: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Characterising COVID-19 school and childcare outbreaks in Canada in 2021: a surveillance study

COVID-19 outbreaks analysis in the Valencian Region of Spain in the prelude of the third wave

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