Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35562074›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of hospital infection2022

Repeated transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in an overcrowded Irish emergency department elucidated by whole-genome sequencing.

D Hare, C Meaney, J Powell, B Slevin, B O' Brien, L Power, N H O' Connell, C F De Gascun, C P Dunne, P J Stapleton

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of hospital infection, 2022. 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
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 24% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

D HareDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital Limerick, St Nessan's Road, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland; School of Medicine, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; UCD National Virus Reference Laboratory, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. Electronic address: danielhare5000@gmail.com.
C MeaneyDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital Limerick, St Nessan's Road, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland.
J PowellDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital Limerick, St Nessan's Road, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland; Centre for Interventions in Infection, Inflammation & Immunity (4i), University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
B SlevinDepartment of Infection, Prevention and Control, University Hospital Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
B O' BrienDepartment of Infection, Prevention and Control, University Hospital Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
L PowerDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital Limerick, St Nessan's Road, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland.
N H O' ConnellDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital Limerick, St Nessan's Road, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland; School of Medicine, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; Centre for Interventions in Infection, Inflammation & Immunity (4i), University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
C F De GascunUCD National Virus Reference Laboratory, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
C P DunneSchool of Medicine, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; Centre for Interventions in Infection, Inflammation & Immunity (4i), University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
P J StapletonDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital Limerick, St Nessan's Road, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland; School of Medicine, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
University Hospital Limerick · IEUniversity of Limerick · IEUniversity College Dublin · IE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimTo provide a detailed genomic-epidemiological description of a complex multi-ward SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, which originated in the crowded emergency department (ED) in our hospital during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was elucidated promptly by local whole-genome sequencing (WGS).

methodsSARS-CoV-2 was detected by reverse transcriptase real-time polymerase chain reaction on viral RNA extracted from nasopharyngeal swabs. WGS was performed using an Oxford MinION Mk1C instrument following the ARTIC v3 sequencing protocol. High-quality consensus genomes were assembled with the artic-ncov2019 bioinformatics pipeline and viral phylogenetic trees were built, inferred by maximum-likelihood. Clusters were defined using a threshold of 0-1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between epidemiologically linked sequences.

resultsIn April 2021, outbreaks of COVID-19 were declared on two wards at University Hospital Limerick after 4 healthcare-associated SARS-CoV-2 infections were detected by post-admission surveillance testing. Contact tracing identified 12 further connected cases; all with direct or indirect links to the ED 'COVID Zone'. All sequences were assigned to the Pangolin B.1.1.7 lineage by WGS, and SNP-level analysis revealed two distinct but simultaneous clusters of infections. Repeated transmission in the ED was demonstrated, involving patients accommodated on trolleys in crowded areas, resulting in multiple generations of infections across three inpatient hospital wards and subsequently to the local community. These findings informed mitigation efforts to prevent cross-transmission in the ED.

conclusionCross-transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurred repeatedly in an overcrowded emergency department. Viral WGS elucidated complex viral transmission networks in our hospital and informed infection, prevention and control practice.

Indexed as

COVID-19Cross InfectionEmergency Service, HospitalGenome, ViralHumansIrelandPandemicsPhylogenySARS-CoV-2Whole Genome SequencingCOVID-19Genomic epidemiologyHospital overcrowdingOutbreak investigationSARS-CoV-2Whole-genome sequencing

Identifiers

PMID35562074
PMCPMC9088210
OpenAlexW4280529910

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.