Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34271962›Full record

ArticleTheoretical biology & medical modelling2021

Exploring secondary SARS-CoV-2 transmission from asymptomatic cases using contact tracing data.

Ko Nakajo, Hiroshi Nishiura

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Theoretical biology & medical modelling, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Ko NakajoGraduate, School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita 15 Jo Nishi 7 Chome, Kita-ku, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido, 060-8638, Japan.
Hiroshi NishiuraGraduate, School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita 15 Jo Nishi 7 Chome, Kita-ku, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido, 060-8638, Japan. nishiura.hiroshi.5r@kyoto-u.ac.jp.ORCID 0000-0003-0941-8537

Funding

Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology JPMJCR1413German Ministry of Health COVID-19 Research and Development fundingJapan Agency for Medical Research and Development JP19fk0108104, JP20fk0108140 and JP20fk0108535s0101Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 17H04701 and 21H03198Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare 19HA1003, 20CA2024, and 20HA2007Strategic International Collaborative Research Program JPMJSC20U3
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIndividuals with asymptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can propagate the virus unknowingly and thus have been a focus of public health attentions since the early stages of the pandemic. Understanding viral transmissibility among asymptomatic individuals is critical for successful control of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The present study aimed to understand SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility among young asymptomatic individuals and to assess whether symptomatology was associated with transmission of symptomatic vs. asymptomatic infections.

methodsWe analyzed one of the first-identified clusters of SARS-CoV-2 infections with multiple chains of transmission that occurred among university students in March 2020 in Kyoto prefecture, Japan, using discrete and two-type branching process models. Assuming that the number of secondary cases resulting from either primary symptomatic or asymptomatic cases independently followed negative binomial distributions, we estimated the relative reproduction numbers of an asymptomatic case compared with a symptomatic case. To explore the potential association between symptomatology and transmission of symptomatic vs. asymptomatic incident infections, we also estimated the proportion of secondary symptomatic cases produced by primary symptomatic and asymptomatic cases.

resultsThe reproduction number for a symptomatic primary case was estimated at 1.14 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.61-2.09). The relative reproduction number for asymptomatic cases was estimated at 0.19 (95% CI: 0.03-0.66), indicating that asymptomatic primary cases did not result in sufficient numbers of secondary infections to maintain chains of transmission. There was no apparent tendency for symptomatic primary cases to preferentially produce symptomatic secondary cases.

conclusionsUsing data from a transmission network during the early epidemic in Japan, we successfully estimated the relative transmissibility of asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection at 0.22. These results suggest that contract tracing focusing on symptomatic index cases may be justified given limited testing capacity.

Indexed as

Contact TracingCOVID-19HumansJapanPandemicsSARS-CoV-2Asymptomatic caseClusterEpidemiologyMathematical modelReproduction number

Identifiers

PMID34271962
PMCPMC8284042

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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.