In:
PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science (PLoS), Vol. 17, No. 2 ( 2022-2-16), p. e0263741-
Abstract:
Despite their clear lesser vulnerability to COVID-19, the extent by which children are susceptible to getting infected by SARS-CoV-2 and their capacity to transmit the infection to other people remains inadequately characterized. We aimed to evaluate the role of school reopening and the preventive strategies in place at schools in terms of overall risk for children and community transmission, by comparing transmission rates in children as detected by a COVID-19 surveillance platform in place in Catalonian Schools to the incidence at the community level. Methods and findings Infections detected in Catalan schools during the entire first trimester of classes (September-December 2020) were analysed and compared with the ongoing community transmission and with the modelled predicted number of infections. There were 30.486 infections (2.12%) documented among the circa 1.5M pupils, with cases detected in 54.0% and 97.5% of the primary and secondary centres, respectively. During the entire first term, the proportion of “bubble groups” (stable groups of children doing activities together) that were forced to undergo confinement ranged between 1 and 5%, with scarce evidence of substantial intraschool transmission in the form of chains of infections, and with ~75% of all detected infections not leading to secondary cases. Mathematical models were also used to evaluate the effect of different parameters related to the defined preventive strategies (size of the bubble group, number of days of confinement required by contacts of an index case). The effective reproduction number inside the bubble groups in schools (R*), defined as the average number of schoolmates infected by each primary case within the bubble, was calculated, yielding a value of 0.35 for primary schools and 0.55 for secondary schools, and compared with the outcomes of the mathematical model, implying decreased transmissibility for children in the context of the applied measures. Relative homogenized monthly cumulative incidence ( r C I h o m , j ) was assessed to compare the epidemiological dynamics among different age groups and this analysis suggested the limited impact of infections in school-aged children in the context of the overall community incidence. Conclusions During the fall of 2020, SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19 cases detected in Catalan schools closely mirrored the underlying community transmission from the neighbourhoods where they were set and maintaining schools open appeared to be safe irrespective of underlying community transmission. Preventive measures in place in those schools appeared to be working for the early detection and rapid containment of transmission and should be maintained for the adequate and safe functioning of normal academic and face-to-face school activities.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1932-6203
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.g001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.g002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.g003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.g004
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.g005
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.s001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.s002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.s003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.s004
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.s005
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.s006
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.s007
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.r001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.r002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.r003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.r004
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.r005
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.r006
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.r007
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0263741.r008
Language:
English
Publisher:
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Publication Date:
2022
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2267670-3
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