Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection among staff and students in a cohort of English primary and secondary schools during 2020–2021

Hargreaves, James; Langan, Sinéad; Oswald, William E.; Halliday, Katherine E.; Sturgess, Joanna; Phelan, Jody; Nguipdop-Djomo, Patrick; Ford, Benjamin; Allen, Elizabeth; Sundaram, Neisha; Ireland, Georgina; Poh, John; Ijaz, Samreen; Diamond, Ian; Rourke, Emma; Dawe, Fiona; Judd, Alison; Warren‐Gash, Charlotte; Clark, Taane G.; Glynn, Judith R.; Edmunds, W. John; Bonell, Chris; Mangtani, Punam; Ladhani, Shamez; Abramsky, Tanya; Ahmad, Shazaad; Aiano, Felicity; Baawuah, Frances; Bankiewicz, Urszula; Batt, Sarah M.; Beckmann, Joanne; Bhavsar, Ami; Brent, Bernadette; Brent, Andrew; Brouwer, S.; Brown, Kevin E.; Browne, Richard W.; Childs, Kevin L.; Cook, Sarah; Day, Ieuan; Felton, Antonio; Fine, Paul E. M.; Foster, David William; Garstang, Joanna; Gates, D.; Grant, Claire; Griffiths-Tong, Bethany; Hele, Claire; Hemsi, Rowan; Jones, P.; Jordan, Helena; Kucharski, Adam J.; Lacey, Andrea; Leeson, Rebecca; Lelii, Ffion; Lovely, Philip; Lunskey, Madeleine; McLanachan, Chris; Munday, James D.; Okike, Ifeanyichukwu; O’Reilly, Kathleen; Parker, Penelope; Powell, Annabel A; Proud, Sarah; Ramsay, Mary; Rudd, Lee; Russell, Timothy; Shute, Justin; Tilouche, Nerissa; Virgin, Charmaine; Wyatt, Sian-Elin; YEO, KELLY

doi:10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100471

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Each survey included the collection of biological samples for laboratory testing and administration of online questionnaires. The infection rates in our cohort in relation to school closures over that year were similar to community infection patterns in England [15] .…”

Section: Design and Settingsupporting

confidence: 73%

Risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in primary and secondary school students and staff in England in the 2020/2021 school year: a longitudinal study

Nguipdop-Djomo

Oswald

Halliday

et al. 2023

International Journal of Infectious Diseases

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Section: Design and Settingsupporting

confidence: 73%

Risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in primary and secondary school students and staff in England in the 2020/2021 school year: a longitudinal study

Nguipdop-Djomo

Oswald

Halliday

et al. 2023

International Journal of Infectious Diseases

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“…Our findings are comparable to a very limited number of studies from 2021 in other countries. An outbreak study in 905 Norwegian schools and 298 preschools 23 and a study in 156 sentinel schools in England 24 found similar rates of infection in school students and staff to that in the community. Transmission was highest in our study in schools operating at the highest COVID-SAFE operation level, particularly early in the study when vaccination rates were low and most students were studying remotely.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Understanding SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron variant transmission and vaccine impact in schools and child-care settings in Australia: a population-based study

Koirala¹,

Winkler²,

Quinn³

et al. 2023

The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific

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“…SIS was a longitudinal study during which biological samples and questionnaire data was collected from students and staff in six panel surveys at half-termly intervals, targeting 150 randomly selected state-funded primary and secondary schools across 15 Local Authorities (LAs) in England during the 2020-2021 school year; schools were selected using multi-stage stratified random sampling respectively in 10 Las from the top quintile and 5 LA from the bottom four quintiles community incidence in September 2020. 11,12 Biological analyses included RT-PCR testing of nasal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 infection in those present in school on the visit day.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The association between SARS-CoV-2 infections in English primary and secondary school children and staff, and infections in members of their household in the schoolyear 2020-2021: a self-controlled case-series analysis

McClenaghan,

Nguipdop-Djomo,

Lewin

et al. 2023

Preprint

Self Cite

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BackgroundThe role of children and staff in SARS-CoV-2 transmission outside and within households is still not fully understood when large numbers are in regular, frequent contact in schools.MethodsWe used the self-controlled case-series method during the alpha- and delta-dominant periods to explore the incidence of infection in periods around a household member infection, relative to periods without household infection, in a cohort of primary and secondary English school children and staff from November 2020 to July 2021.ResultsWe found the relative incidence of infection in students and staff was highest in the 1-7 days following household infection, remaining high up to 14 days after, with risk also elevated in the 6-12 days before household infection. Younger students had a higher relative incidence following household infection, suggesting household transmission may play a more prominent role compared with older students. The relative incidence was also higher amongst students in the alpha variant dominant period.ConclusionsThis analysis suggests SARS-CoV2 infection in children, young people and staff at English schools were more likely to be associated with within-household transmission than from outside the household, but that a small increased risk of seeding from outside is observed.Key messagesQuestion: With respect to incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection before and after household member infection, is within-household transmission more likely than community transmission amongst school children and staff?Findings: In this self-controlled case-series analysis, the relative incidence of infection in students and staff was highest in the 1-7 days following household infection, remaining high up to 14 days after, with the highest relative incidence found in younger, primary school-aged children.Importance: Within-household transmission is more likely than from outside the household, but a small increased risk of seeding from outside the household is observed as well as variation by age and variant dominant period.

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Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection among staff and students in a cohort of English primary and secondary schools during 2020–2021

Cited by 7 publications

References 47 publications

Risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in primary and secondary school students and staff in England in the 2020/2021 school year: a longitudinal study

Risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in primary and secondary school students and staff in England in the 2020/2021 school year: a longitudinal study

Understanding SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron variant transmission and vaccine impact in schools and child-care settings in Australia: a population-based study

The association between SARS-CoV-2 infections in English primary and secondary school children and staff, and infections in members of their household in the schoolyear 2020-2021: a self-controlled case-series analysis

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