Seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among school and daycare children and personnel: protocol for a cohort study in Montreal, Canada

Abstract

IntroductionFurther evidence is needed to understand the contribution of schools and daycares for the spread of COVID-19 in the context of diverse transmission dynamics and continually evolving public health interventions. The Enfants et COVID-19: Étude de séroprévalence (EnCORE) study will estimate the seroprevalence and seroconversion of SARS-CoV-2 among school and daycare children and personnel. In addition, the study will examine associations between seroprevalence and sociodemographic characteristics and reported COVID-19 symptoms and tests, and investigates changes in health, lifestyle and well-being outcomes.Methods and analysisThis study includes children and personnel from 62 schools and daycares in four neighbourhoods in Montreal, Canada. All children aged 2–17 years attending one of the participating schools or daycares and their parents are invited to participate, as well as a sample of personnel members. Participants respond to brief questionnaires and provide blood samples, collected via dried blood spot, at baseline (October 2020–March 2021) and follow-up (May–June 2021). Questionnaires include sociodemographic and household characteristics, reported COVID-19 symptoms and tests, potential COVID-19 risk factors and prevention efforts and health and lifestyle information. Logistic regression using generalised estimating equations will be used to estimate seroprevalence and seroconversion, accounting for school-level clustering.Ethics and disseminationThis study was approved by the research ethics boards of the Université de Montréal (CERSES) and the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine. Results will contribute to our knowledge about SARS-CoV-2 transmission in schools and daycares and will be made available to study participants and their families, school and public health decision-makers and the research community.

Social inequalities in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and uptake for children and adolescents in Montreal, Canada

“…We used cross-sectional data from the Children and COVID-19 Seroprevalence Study (EnCORE). EnCORE is a cohort of children and adolescents attending 30 daycares, 22 primary schools, and 11 secondary schools across four neighbourhoods in Montreal, Canada [15] . The neighbourhoods were selected to reflect diversity in terms of geography, cumulative COVID-19 cases, and neighbourhood socioeconomic status.…”

“…All children and adolescents aged 2–17 years attending a participating daycare or school were invited to participate in the study. Details of the full cohort study procedures are available in the study protocol [15] . Parents or guardians (hereafter referred to as parents) who completed an online questionnaire between May 18 and June 26, 2021 (survey wave 2) were included in this analysis.…”

Seroprevalence, seroconversion, and seroreversion of infection-induced SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among a cohort of children and adolescents in Montreal, Canada

“…Details of the full cohort study procedures are available in the study protocol. 15 This study followed the reporting requirements of the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement. 16…”

Changing Patterns of SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence among Canadian Blood Donors during the Vaccine Era

“…To date we have published one report from our study that described seroprevalence in the first wave of the pandemic ( 7 ). Other Canadian serosurveys have been carried out over limited time periods and relied on blood spots for serology ( 11 , 12 ) or have been limited to specific regions ( 13 , 14 ) and/or populations ( 15 – 17 ). In other countries, such as the United States, blood donors are central to national monitoring of infections and vaccine seroprevalence ( 5 , 18 ) but have not published data on vaccine-related antibody concentrations.…”