SynthesisBMJ open2021
Risk of infection and contribution to transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in school staff: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Infection Control Measures in the Classroom During and in the Aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multidimensional Analysis of Secondary Student Well-Being and Emotions.The Journal of school health · 2025Article
- Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 epidemics in pediatric population in Liguria (North-west Italy) from March 2020 to December 2022: what could we have learned?Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene · 2024Article
- Airborne transmission risks of tuberculosis and COVID-19 in schools in South Africa, Switzerland, and Tanzania: Modeling of environmental data.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Article
- Observational
- Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection among staff and students in a cohort of English primary and secondary schools during 2020-2021.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2022Article
- Increased transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant (B.1.1.7) in children: three large primary school outbreaks revealed by whole genome sequencing in the Netherlands.BMC infectious diseases · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo summarise the comparative risk of infection in school staff and their contribution to SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
designSystematic review using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guideline. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, WHO COVID-19 database and preView were searched on 29 January 2021. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: We included studies that reported risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in school staff or transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in school settings. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Data extraction was done in duplicates. Data synthesis was qualitative. We report attack rates and infection risk in school settings for staff and students stratified by control measures taken and infection dynamics at the point of data collection.
resultsEighteen studies were included. Three studies in low incidence settings showed low attack rates similar for teachers and students. Five studies in medium incidence settings and two studies in high incidence settings showed secondary attack rates up to 16% in school staff.Seroprevalence studies, two in each low and high incidence settings showed an infection risk of 0%-0.2% and 1.7%-28% for teachers.The risk of infection for teachers compared with students were similar in one study in low incidence setting, higher in three studies (RR 1.2-4.4) and lower in three studies in medium to high incidence settings. The risk of infection for teachers in a high infection environment is higher in face-to-face than in distance classes when compared with general population groups. The risk of infections as well as risk of hospitalisation both increased for teachers during school openings compared with school closure.
conclusionWhile in low incidence settings there is little evidence for school staff to be at high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, in high incidence settings there is an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in school staff teaching face-to-face compared to staff teaching digitally and general population. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021239225.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.