Estimating SARS-CoV-2 transmission in educational settings: A retrospective cohort study
The staggeringly obvious, confirmed: ‘We analyzed transmission patterns associated with 976 SARS-CoV-2 exposure events, involving 460 positive individuals, as identified in early 2021 through routine surveillance and an extensive screening conducted on students, school personnel, and their household members in a small Italian municipality. […] From the analysis of 152 clear infection episodes and 584 exposure events identified by epidemiological investigations, we estimated that approximately 50%, 21%, and 29% of SARS-CoV-2 transmission was associated with household, school, and community contacts, respectively. […] A higher proportion of infected individuals causing onward transmission was found among students (46.2% vs. 25%, on average), who also caused a markedly higher number of secondary cases’ Ah, remember 2020, 2021, and indeed 2022, when the Irish department of education and HSE were vehement that COVID-19 didn’t spread in schools….
(tags: covid-19 schools education transmission pandemics disease papers)