SynthesisClinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America2021
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Setting-specific Transmission Rates: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 136 papers, 12 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
136 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Impact of disease severity, age, sex, comorbidity, and vaccination on secondary attack rates of SARS-CoV-2: a global systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Pooled it
- The Risk of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Community Indoor Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2024Pooled it
- Superspreading of SARS-CoV-2: a systematic review and meta-analysis of event attack rates and individual transmission patterns.Epidemiology and infection · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in standardised first few X cases and household transmission investigations: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2022Pooled it
- The role of children in household transmission of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2022Pooled it
- The Role of Digital Technology in Curbing COVID-19.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Transmissibility and pathogenicity of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2: A systematic review and meta-analysis of secondary attack rate and asymptomatic infection.Journal of infection and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by children and young people in households and schools: A meta-analysis of population-based and contact-tracing studies.The Journal of infection · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Using secondary cases to characterize the severity of an emerging or re-emerging infection.Nature communications · 2021Pooled it
- Children's role in the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review of early surveillance data on susceptibility, severity, and transmissibility.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- Estimated Health Outcomes and Costs of COVID-19 Prophylaxis With Monoclonal Antibodies Among Unvaccinated Household Contacts in the US.JAMA network open · 2022Trial
- Assessment and mitigation of COVID-19 occupational hazards among small businesses in a high-risk community.International journal of workplace health management · 2026Article
- Roles of children, isolation measures and socioeconomic status in SARS-CoV-2 household transmission: a retrospective cohort study in a southern US city.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Household exposure, demographic and health characteristics associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in a cohort study in Northern France.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Why population heterogeneity matters for modelling infectious diseases.Interface focus · 2025Article
- Variability in the Population Diffusion Patterns of SARS-CoV-2 by Exposure Setting and Its Roles in Driving Epidemic Dynamics.Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2025Article
- The role of frailty in shaping social contact patterns in Belgium, 2022-2023.Scientific reports · 2025Article
76 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
24 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUnderstanding the drivers of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission is crucial for control policies, but evidence of transmission rates in different settings remains limited.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review to estimate secondary attack rates (SARs) and observed reproduction numbers (Robs) in different settings exploring differences by age, symptom status, and duration of exposure. To account for additional study heterogeneity, we employed a beta-binomial model to pool SARs across studies and a negative-binomial model to estimate Robs.
resultsHouseholds showed the highest transmission rates, with a pooled SAR of 21.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]:17.4-24.8). SARs were significantly higher where the duration of household exposure exceeded 5 days compared with exposure of ≤5 days. SARs related to contacts at social events with family and friends were higher than those for low-risk casual contacts (5.9% vs 1.2%). Estimates of SARs and Robs for asymptomatic index cases were approximately one-seventh, and for presymptomatic two-thirds of those for symptomatic index cases. We found some evidence for reduced transmission potential both from and to individuals younger than 20 years of age in the household context, which is more limited when examining all settings.
conclusionsOur results suggest that exposure in settings with familiar contacts increases SARS-CoV-2 transmission potential. Additionally, the differences observed in transmissibility by index case symptom status and duration of exposure have important implications for control strategies, such as contact tracing, testing, and rapid isolation of cases. There were limited data to explore transmission patterns in workplaces, schools, and care homes, highlighting the need for further research in such settings.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.