Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37770455›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2023

Measuring the clustering effect of the SARS-CoV-2 transmission in a school population: a cross-sectional study in a high incidence region.

Milton Severo, Paula Meireles, Ana Isabel Ribeiro, Vítor Morais, Henrique Barros

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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.

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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

5 authors.

Milton SeveroEPIUnit-Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Rua das Taipas, nº 135, 4050-600, Porto, Portugal. milton@ispup.up.pt.
Paula MeirelesEPIUnit-Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Rua das Taipas, nº 135, 4050-600, Porto, Portugal.
Ana Isabel RibeiroEPIUnit-Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Rua das Taipas, nº 135, 4050-600, Porto, Portugal.
Vítor MoraisEPIUnit-Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Rua das Taipas, nº 135, 4050-600, Porto, Portugal.
Henrique BarrosEPIUnit-Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Rua das Taipas, nº 135, 4050-600, Porto, Portugal.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a great deal of controversy regarding the role of schools in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the relative contribution of students, teachers, and others. To quantify the clustering effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection within classes and schools considering the seroprevalence of specific antibodies among students and school staff (teachers and non-teachers) evaluated in schools located in the Northern region of Portugal. 1517 individuals (1307 students and 210 school staff) from 4 public and 2 private schools, comprising daycare to secondary levels, were evaluated. A rapid point-of-care test for SARS-CoV-2 specific IgM and IgG antibodies was performed and a questionnaire was completed providing sociodemographic and clinical information. We calculated the seroprevalence of IgM and IgG antibodies and estimated the Median Odds Ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) to assess the clustering effect, using a multilevel (school and class) logistic regression. SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence (IgM or IgG) was 21.8% and 23.8% (p = 0.575) in students and school staff, respectively. A total of 84 (8.6%) students and 35 (16.7%) school staff reported a previous molecular diagnosis. Among students, those who reported high-risk contacts only at school (OR = 1.13; 95% CI 0.72-1.78) had a seroprevalence similar to those without high-risk contacts; however, seroprevalence was significantly higher among those who only reported a high-risk contact outside the school (OR = 6.56; 95% CI 3.68-11.72), or in both places (OR = 7.83; 95% CI 5.14-11.93). Similar associations were found for school staff. The median OR was 1.00 (95% CI 1.00, 1.38) at the school-level and 1.78 (95% CI 1.40, 2.06) at the class-level. SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence was similar between students and staff, without a clustering effect observed at the school level, and only a moderate clustering effect documented within classes. These results indicate that the mitigation measures in the school environment can prevent the spread of class outbreaks to the remaining school community.

Indexed as

COVID-19SARS-CoV-2Antibodies, ViralCluster AnalysisCross-Sectional StudiesHumansImmunoglobulin GImmunoglobulin MIncidenceSeroepidemiologic StudiesAntibodies, ViralImmunoglobulin GImmunoglobulin M

Identifiers

PMID37770455
PMCPMC10539502

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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.