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Lorthe E, Bellon M, Michielin G, Berthelot J, Zaballa ME, Pennacchio F, Bekliz M, Laubscher F, Arefi F, Perez-Saez J, Azman AS, L’Huillier AG, Posfay-Barbe KM, Kaiser L, Guessous I, Maerkl SJ, Eckerle I, Stringhini S. Epidemiological, virological and serological investigation of a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak (Alpha variant) in a primary school: A prospective longitudinal study. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0272663. [PMID: 35976947 PMCID: PMC9385020 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives To report a prospective epidemiological, virological and serological investigation of a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in a primary school. Methods As part of a longitudinal, prospective, school-based surveillance study, this investigation involved repeated testing of 73 pupils, 9 teachers, 13 non-teaching staff and 26 household members of participants who tested positive, with rapid antigen tests and/or RT-PCR (Day 0–2 and Day 5–7), serologies on dried capillary blood samples (Day 0–2 and Day 30), contact tracing interviews and SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequencing. Results We identified 20 children (aged 4 to 6 years from 4 school classes), 2 teachers and a total of 4 household members who were infected by the Alpha variant during this outbreak. Infection attack rates were between 11.8 and 62.0% among pupils from the 4 school classes, 22.2% among teachers and 0% among non-teaching staff. Secondary attack rate among household members was 15.4%. Symptoms were reported by 63% of infected children, 100% of teachers and 50% of household members. All analysed sequences but one showed 100% identity. Serological tests detected 8 seroconversions unidentified by SARS-CoV-2 virological tests. Conclusions This study confirmed child-to-child and child-to-adult SARS-CoV-2 transmission and introduction into households. Effective measures to limit transmission in schools have the potential to reduce the overall community circulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elsa Lorthe
- Unit of Population Epidemiology, Division of Primary Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
- * E-mail:
| | - Mathilde Bellon
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Center for Emerging Viral Diseases, Geneva University Hospitals and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Grégoire Michielin
- Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Julie Berthelot
- Unit of Population Epidemiology, Division of Primary Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - María-Eugenia Zaballa
- Unit of Population Epidemiology, Division of Primary Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Francesco Pennacchio
- Unit of Population Epidemiology, Division of Primary Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Meriem Bekliz
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Florian Laubscher
- Laboratory of Virology, Department of Diagnostics, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Fatemeh Arefi
- Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Javier Perez-Saez
- Unit of Population Epidemiology, Division of Primary Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Andrew S. Azman
- Unit of Population Epidemiology, Division of Primary Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
- Institute of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Arnaud G. L’Huillier
- Laboratory of Virology, Department of Diagnostics, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Pediatrics, Gynecology & Obstetrics, Pediatric Infectious Disease Unit, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Klara M. Posfay-Barbe
- Department of Pediatrics, Gynecology & Obstetrics, Pediatric Infectious Disease Unit, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Laurent Kaiser
- Center for Emerging Viral Diseases, Geneva University Hospitals and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Idris Guessous
- Division of Primary Care, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Sebastian J. Maerkl
- Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Isabella Eckerle
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Center for Emerging Viral Diseases, Geneva University Hospitals and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Laboratory of Virology, Department of Diagnostics, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Silvia Stringhini
- Unit of Population Epidemiology, Division of Primary Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- University Center for General Medicine and Public Health, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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