Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37194008›Full record

Trial reportBMC public health2023

SARS-CoV-2 infection prevention and control measures in Belgian schools between December 2020 and June 2021 and their association with seroprevalence: a cross-sectional analysis of a prospective cohort study.

Milena Callies, Ines Kabouche, Isabelle Desombere, Joanna Merckx, Mathieu Roelants, Melissa Vermeulen, Els Duysburgh

Registry-linked trialAbstract readClinical Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04613817 (Prevalence and Incidence of Antibodies Against SARS-CoV-2 in Children Measured for One Year in Belgium), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

NCT04613817 completednot on this map

Prevalence and Incidence of Antibodies Against SARS-CoV-2 in Children Measured for One Year in Belgium: a Sero-epidemiological Prospective Cohort Study

Typeobservational_patient_registrySponsorSciensanoRan2020 to 2021Enrolled2,103ConditionsSARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV Infection, Covid19
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
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

7 authors.

Milena Callies *Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium. milena.callies@sciensano.be.
Ines Kabouche *Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
Isabelle DesombereDepartment of Infectious Diseases in Humans, Immune Response, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
Joanna MerckxDepartment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Mathieu RoelantsEnvironment and Health, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Leuven, Louvain, KU, Belgium.
Melissa VermeulenDepartment of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
Els DuysburghDepartment of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTo protect school-aged children from the potential consequences of a new viral infection, public health authorities recommended to implement infection prevention and control (IPC) measures in school settings. Few studies evaluated the implementation of these measures and their effect on SARS-CoV-2 infection rates among pupils and staff. The aim of this study was to describe the implementation of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures in Belgian schools and assess its relation to the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among pupils and staff.

methodsWe conducted a prospective cohort study in a representative sample of primary and secondary schools in Belgium between December 2020 and June 2021. The implementation of IPC measures in schools was assessed using a questionnaire. Schools were classified according to their compliance with the implementation of IPC measures as 'poor', 'moderate' or 'thorough'. Saliva samples were collected from pupils and staff to determine the SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence. To assess the association between the strength of implementation of IPC measures and SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among pupils and staff, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis using the data collected in December 2020/January 2021.

resultsA variety of IPC measures (ventilation, hygiene and physical distancing) was implemented by more than 60% of schools, with most attention placed on hygiene measures. In January 2021, poor implementation of IPC measures was associated with an increase in anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence among pupils from 8.6% (95%CI: 4.5 - 16.6) to 16.7% (95%CI: 10.2 - 27.4) and staff from 11.5% (95%CI: 8.1 - 16.4) to 17.6% (95%CI: 11.5 - 27.0). This association was only statistically significant for the assessment of all IPC measures together in the population comprised of pupils and staff.

conclusionsBelgian schools were relatively compliant with recommended IPC measures at the school level. Higher SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among pupils and staff was found in schools with poor implementation of IPC measures, compared to schools with thorough implementation.

trial registrationThis trial is registered under the NCT04613817 ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier on November 3, 2020.

Indexed as

COVID-19Antibodies, ViralBelgiumChildCross-Sectional StudiesHumansProspective StudiesSARS-CoV-2Seroepidemiologic StudiesAntibodies, ViralBelgiumInfection prevention and controlSARS-CoV-2School-aged childrenSchool staffSeroprevalence

Identifiers

PMID37194008
PMCPMC10185463

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.