ArticleNature communications2022
Empirical evidence on the efficiency of backward contact tracing in COVID-19.
Article in Nature communications, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Effectiveness of Contact Tracing to Reduce Transmission of Infectious Diseases During Epidemic or Pandemic Response: Rapid Systematic Review.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2026Pooled it
- Predictive triage for testing may improve control of a COVID-19 epidemic while reducing testing requirements.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Article
- Network-based proactive contact tracing: A pre-emptive, degree-based alerting framework for privacy-preserving COVID-19 apps.PLOS digital health · 2025Article
- Belgium's SARS-CoV-2 contact tracing effectively curbed transmission, yet challenges persist in terms of delays, scalability and population adherence.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Comparison of contact tracing methods: A modelling study.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2025Article
- Lessons for future outbreaks from successful contact tracing systems in Asia.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2025Review
- Mathematical Contact Tracing Models for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review of the Literature.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Contact tracing strategies for infectious diseases: A systematic literature review.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- CONTACT: a non-randomised feasibility study of bluetooth-enabled wearables for contact tracing in UK care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2024Article
- Mathematical modeling of contact tracing and stability analysis to inform its impact on disease outbreaks; an application to COVID-19.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2024Article
- COVID-19 cluster surveillance using exposure data collected from routine contact tracing: The genomic validation of a novel informatics-based approach to outbreak detection in England.PLOS digital health · 2024Article
- Article
- Looking under the lamp-post: quantifying the performance of contact tracing in the United States during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Time trends and modifiable factors of COVID-19 contact tracing coverage, Geneva, Switzerland, June 2020 to February 2022.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2024Article
- Letter to the editor: Added value of backward contact tracing for COVID-19.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2024Article
- Authors' response: Added value of backward contact tracing for COVID-19.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2024Article
- Unravelling the effect of New Year's Eve celebrations on SARS-CoV-2 transmission.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- 'Smart' BLE wearables for digital contact tracing in care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic-a process evaluation of the CONTACT feasibility study.Implementation science communications · 2023Article
- Combatting SARS-CoV-2 With Digital Contact Tracing and Notification: Navigating Six Points of Failure.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2023Review
- Emerging infectious disease surveillance using a hierarchical diagnosis model and the Knox algorithm.Scientific reports · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Standard contact tracing practice for COVID-19 is to identify persons exposed to an infected person during the contagious period, assumed to start two days before symptom onset or diagnosis. In the first large cohort study on backward contact tracing for COVID-19, we extended the contact tracing window by 5 days, aiming to identify the source of the infection and persons infected by the same source. The risk of infection amongst these additional contacts was similar to contacts exposed during the standard tracing window and significantly higher than symptomatic individuals in a control group, leading to 42% more cases identified as direct contacts of an index case. Compared to standard practice, backward traced contacts required fewer tests and shorter quarantine. However, they were identified later in their infectious cycle if infected. Our results support implementing backward contact tracing when rigorous suppression of viral transmission is warranted.
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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.