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Kim J, Jo S, Cho SI. New framework to assess tracing and testing based on South Korea's response to COVID-19. BMC Infect Dis 2024; 24:469. [PMID: 38702610 PMCID: PMC11067276 DOI: 10.1186/s12879-024-09363-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2023] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024] Open
Abstract
South Korea's remarkable success in controlling the spread of COVID-19 during the pre-Omicron period was based on extensive contact tracing and large-scale testing. Here we suggest a general criterion for tracing and testing based on South Korea's experience, and propose a new framework to assess tracing and testing. We reviewed papers on South Korea's response to COVID-19 to capture its concept of tracing and testing. South Korea expanded its testing capabilities to enable group tracing combined with preemptive testing, and to conduct open testing. According to our proposed model, COVID-19 cases are classified into 4 types: confirmed in quarantine, source known, source unknown, and unidentified. The proportion of the first two case types among confirmed cases is defined as "traced proportion", and used as the indicator of tracing and testing effectiveness. In conclusion, South Korea successfully suppressed COVID-19 transmission by maintaining a high traced proportion (> 60%) using group tracing in conjunction with preemptive testing as a complementary strategy to traditional contact tracing.
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2
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Packer S, Patrzylas P, Smith I, Chen C, Wensley A, Nsonwu O, Dack K, Turner C, Anderson C, Kwiatkowska R, Oliver I, Edeghere O, Fraser G, Hughes G. 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 2024; 3:e0000485. [PMID: 38662648 PMCID: PMC11045073 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pdig.0000485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
Contact tracing was used globally to prevent onwards transmission of COVID-19. Tracing contacts alone is unlikely to be sufficient in controlling community transmission, due to the pre-symptomatic, overdispersed and airborne nature of COVID-19 transmission. We describe and demonstrate the validity of a national enhanced contact tracing programme for COVID-19 cluster surveillance in England. Data on cases occurring between October 2020 and September 2021 were extracted from the national contact tracing system. Exposure clusters were identified algorithmically by matching ≥2 cases attending the same event, identified by matching postcode and event category within a 7-day rolling window. Genetic validity was defined as exposure clusters with ≥2 cases from different households with identical viral sequences. Exposure clusters were fuzzy matched to the national incident management system (HPZone) by postcode and setting description. Multivariable logistic regression modelling was used to determine cluster characteristics associated with genetic validity. Over a quarter of a million (269,470) exposure clusters were identified. Of the eligible clusters, 25% (3,306/13,008) were genetically valid. 81% (2684/3306) of these were not recorded on HPZone and were identified on average of one day earlier than incidents recorded on HPZone. Multivariable analysis demonstrated that exposure clusters occurring in workplaces (aOR = 5·10, 95% CI 4·23-6·17) and education (aOR = 3·72, 95% CI 3·08-4·49) settings were those most strongly associated with genetic validity. Cluster surveillance using enhanced contact tracing in England was a timely, comprehensive and systematic approach to the detection of transmission events occurring in community settings. Cluster surveillance can provide intelligence to stakeholders to support the assessment and management of clusters of COVID-19 at a local, regional, and national level. Future systems should include predictive modelling and network analysis to support risk assessment of exposure clusters to improve the effectiveness of enhanced contract tracing for outbreak detection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Packer
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
| | - Piotr Patrzylas
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
| | - Iona Smith
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
| | - Cong Chen
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
| | - Adrian Wensley
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Kyle Dack
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
| | - Charlie Turner
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
| | | | | | - Isabel Oliver
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
| | - Obaghe Edeghere
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
| | - Graham Fraser
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
| | - Gareth Hughes
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
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3
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Das P, Igoe M, Lacy A, Farthing T, Timsina A, Lanzas C, Lenhart S, Odoi A, Lloyd AL. Modeling county level COVID-19 transmission in the greater St. Louis area: Challenges of uncertainty and identifiability when fitting mechanistic models to time-varying processes. Math Biosci 2024; 371:109181. [PMID: 38537734 DOI: 10.1016/j.mbs.2024.109181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024]
Abstract
We use a compartmental model with a time-varying transmission parameter to describe county level COVID-19 transmission in the greater St. Louis area of Missouri and investigate the challenges in fitting such a model to time-varying processes. We fit this model to synthetic and real confirmed case and hospital discharge data from May to December 2020 and calculate uncertainties in the resulting parameter estimates. We also explore non-identifiability within the estimated parameter set. We find that the death rate of infectious non-hospitalized individuals, the testing parameter and the initial number of exposed individuals are not identifiable based on an investigation of correlation coefficients between pairs of parameter estimates. We also explore how this non-identifiability ties back into uncertainties in the estimated parameters and find that it inflates uncertainty in the estimates of our time-varying transmission parameter. However, we do find that R0 is not highly affected by non-identifiability of its constituent components and the uncertainties associated with the quantity are smaller than those of the estimated parameters. Parameter values estimated from data will always be associated with some uncertainty and our work highlights the importance of conducting these analyses when fitting such models to real data. Exploring identifiability and uncertainty is crucial in revealing how much we can trust the parameter estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Praachi Das
- Biomathematics Graduate Program, Department of Mathematics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Morganne Igoe
- Department of Mathematics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Alexanderia Lacy
- Department of Mathematics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Trevor Farthing
- Department of Population Health and Pathobiology and Comparative Medicine Institute, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Archana Timsina
- Department of Population Health and Pathobiology and Comparative Medicine Institute, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Cristina Lanzas
- Department of Population Health and Pathobiology and Comparative Medicine Institute, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Suzanne Lenhart
- Department of Mathematics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Agricola Odoi
- Department of Biomedical and Diagnostics Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Alun L Lloyd
- Biomathematics Graduate Program, Department of Mathematics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
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4
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Leung KY, Metting E, Ebbers W, Veldhuijzen I, Andeweg SP, Luijben G, de Bruin M, Wallinga J, Klinkenberg D. Effectiveness of a COVID-19 contact tracing app in a simulation model with indirect and informal contact tracing. Epidemics 2024; 46:100735. [PMID: 38128242 DOI: 10.1016/j.epidem.2023.100735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Revised: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, contact tracing was used to identify individuals who had been in contact with a confirmed case so that these contacted individuals could be tested and quarantined to prevent further spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Many countries developed mobile apps to find these contacted individuals faster. We evaluate the epidemiological effectiveness of the Dutch app CoronaMelder, where we measure effectiveness as the reduction of the reproduction number R. To this end, we use a simulation model of SARS-CoV-2 spread and contact tracing, informed by data collected during the study period (December 2020 - March 2021) in the Netherlands. We show that the tracing app caused a clear but small reduction of the reproduction number, and the magnitude of the effect was found to be robust in sensitivity analyses. The app could have been more effective if more people had used it, and if notification of contacts could have been done directly by the user and thus reducing the time intervals between symptom onset and reporting of contacts. The model has two innovative aspects: i) it accounts for the clustered nature of social networks and ii) cases can alert their contacts informally without involvement of health authorities or the tracing app.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ka Yin Leung
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, Bilthoven, the Netherlands.
| | - Esther Metting
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Data Science Center in Health, the Netherlands; University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Primary Care, the Netherlands; University of Groningen, faculty of Economics and Business, Department of Operations, the Netherlands
| | - Wolfgang Ebbers
- Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Department of Public Administration and Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Irene Veldhuijzen
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Stijn P Andeweg
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Guus Luijben
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Centre for Health and Society, Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Marijn de Bruin
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Centre for Health and Society, Bilthoven, the Netherlands; Radboud University Medical Centre, Radboud Institute of Health Sciences, IQ Healthcare, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Jacco Wallinga
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, Bilthoven, the Netherlands; Leiden University Medical Centre, Department of Biomedical Datasciences, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Don Klinkenberg
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, Bilthoven, the Netherlands
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5
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Djuric O, Larosa E, Cassinadri M, Cilloni S, Bisaccia E, Pepe D, Bonvicini L, Vicentini M, Venturelli F, Giorgi Rossi P, Pezzotti P, Mateo Urdiales A, Bedeschi E. Effect of an enhanced public health contact tracing intervention on the secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in educational settings: The four-way decomposition analysis. eLife 2024; 13:e85802. [PMID: 38416129 PMCID: PMC10901504 DOI: 10.7554/elife.85802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Background The aim of our study was to test the hypothesis that the community contact tracing strategy of testing contacts in households immediately instead of at the end of quarantine had an impact on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in schools in Reggio Emilia Province. Methods We analysed surveillance data on notification of COVID-19 cases in schools between 1 September 2020 and 4 April 2021. We have applied a mediation analysis that allows for interaction between the intervention (before/after period) and the mediator. Results Median tracing delay decreased from 7 to 3.1 days and the percentage of the known infection source increased from 34-54.8% (incident rate ratio-IRR 1.61 1.40-1.86). Implementation of prompt contact tracing was associated with a 10% decrease in the number of secondary cases (excess relative risk -0.1 95% CI -0.35-0.15). Knowing the source of infection of the index case led to a decrease in secondary transmission (IRR 0.75 95% CI 0.63-0.91) while the decrease in tracing delay was associated with decreased risk of secondary cases (1/IRR 0.97 95% CI 0.94-1.01 per one day of delay). The direct effect of the intervention accounted for the 29% decrease in the number of secondary cases (excess relative risk -0.29 95%-0.61 to 0.03). Conclusions Prompt contact testing in the community reduces the time of contact tracing and increases the ability to identify the source of infection in school outbreaks. Although there are strong reasons for thinking it is a causal link, observed differences can be also due to differences in the force of infection and to other control measures put in place. Funding This project was carried out with the technical and financial support of the Italian Ministry of Health - CCM 2020 and Ricerca Corrente Annual Program 2023.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivera Djuric
- Epidemiology Unit, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale – IRCCS di Reggio EmiliaReggio EmiliaItaly
- Centre for Environmental, Nutritional and Genetic Epidemiology (CREAGEN), University of Modena and Reggio EmiliaModenaItaly
| | - Elisabetta Larosa
- Public Health Unit, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale-IRCCS di Reggio EmiliaReggio EmiliaItaly
| | - Mariateresa Cassinadri
- Public Health Unit, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale-IRCCS di Reggio EmiliaReggio EmiliaItaly
| | - Silvia Cilloni
- Public Health Unit, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale-IRCCS di Reggio EmiliaReggio EmiliaItaly
| | - Eufemia Bisaccia
- Public Health Unit, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale-IRCCS di Reggio EmiliaReggio EmiliaItaly
| | - Davide Pepe
- Public Health Unit, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale-IRCCS di Reggio EmiliaReggio EmiliaItaly
| | - Laura Bonvicini
- Epidemiology Unit, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale – IRCCS di Reggio EmiliaReggio EmiliaItaly
| | - Massimo Vicentini
- Epidemiology Unit, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale – IRCCS di Reggio EmiliaReggio EmiliaItaly
| | - Francesco Venturelli
- Epidemiology Unit, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale – IRCCS di Reggio EmiliaReggio EmiliaItaly
| | - Paolo Giorgi Rossi
- Epidemiology Unit, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale – IRCCS di Reggio EmiliaReggio EmiliaItaly
| | - Patrizio Pezzotti
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di SanitàRomeItaly
| | | | - Emanuela Bedeschi
- Public Health Unit, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale-IRCCS di Reggio EmiliaReggio EmiliaItaly
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Bayly H, Stoddard M, Van Egeren D, Murray EJ, Raifman J, Chakravarty A, White LF. Looking under the lamp-post: quantifying the performance of contact tracing in the United States during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. BMC Public Health 2024; 24:595. [PMID: 38395830 PMCID: PMC10893709 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-18012-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Contact tracing forms a crucial part of the public-health toolbox in mitigating and understanding emergent pathogens and nascent disease outbreaks. Contact tracing in the United States was conducted during the pre-Omicron phase of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This tracing relied on voluntary reporting and responses, often using rapid antigen tests due to lack of accessibility to PCR tests. These limitations, combined with SARS-CoV-2's propensity for asymptomatic transmission, raise the question "how reliable was contact tracing for COVID-19 in the United States"? We answered this question using a Markov model to examine the efficiency with which transmission could be detected based on the design and response rates of contact tracing studies in the United States. Our results suggest that contact tracing protocols in the U.S. are unlikely to have identified more than 1.65% (95% uncertainty interval: 1.62-1.68%) of transmission events with PCR testing and 1.00% (95% uncertainty interval 0.98-1.02%) with rapid antigen testing. When considering a more robust contact tracing scenario, based on compliance rates in East Asia with PCR testing, this increases to 62.7% (95% uncertainty interval: 62.6-62.8%). We did not assume presence of asymptomatic transmission or superspreading, making our estimates upper bounds on the actual percentages traced. These findings highlight the limitations in interpretability for studies of SARS-CoV-2 disease spread based on U.S. contact tracing and underscore the vulnerability of the population to future disease outbreaks, for SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henry Bayly
- Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | | | - Eleanor J Murray
- Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Julia Raifman
- Department of Health Law, Policy and Management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Laura F White
- Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
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7
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Fraser G, Hughes G, Packer S, Edeghere O, Oliver I. Letter to the editor: Added value of backward contact tracing for COVID-19. Euro Surveill 2024; 29:2400003. [PMID: 38275019 PMCID: PMC10986652 DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.es.2024.29.4.2400003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2024] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Graham Fraser
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
| | - Gareth Hughes
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
| | - Simon Packer
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
| | - Obaghe Edeghere
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
| | - Isabel Oliver
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
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8
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Liu AB, Lee D, Jalihal AP, Hanage WP, Springer M. Quantitatively assessing early detection strategies for mitigating COVID-19 and future pandemics. Nat Commun 2023; 14:8479. [PMID: 38123536 PMCID: PMC10733317 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44199-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Researchers and policymakers have proposed systems to detect novel pathogens earlier than existing surveillance systems by monitoring samples from hospital patients, wastewater, and air travel, in order to mitigate future pandemics. How much benefit would such systems offer? We developed, empirically validated, and mathematically characterized a quantitative model that simulates disease spread and detection time for any given disease and detection system. We find that hospital monitoring could have detected COVID-19 in Wuhan 0.4 weeks earlier than it was actually discovered, at 2,300 cases (standard error: 76 cases) compared to 3,400 (standard error: 161 cases). Wastewater monitoring would not have accelerated COVID-19 detection in Wuhan, but provides benefit in smaller catchments and for asymptomatic or long-incubation diseases like polio or HIV/AIDS. Air travel monitoring does not accelerate outbreak detection in most scenarios we evaluated. In sum, early detection systems can substantially mitigate some future pandemics, but would not have changed the course of COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Bo Liu
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Daniel Lee
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - William P Hanage
- Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Michael Springer
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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9
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Masel J, Petrie JIM, Bay J, Ebbers W, Sharan A, Leibrand SM, Gebhard A, Zimmerman S. Combatting SARS-CoV-2 With Digital Contact Tracing and Notification: Navigating Six Points of Failure. JMIR Public Health Surveill 2023; 9:e49560. [PMID: 38048155 PMCID: PMC10728795 DOI: 10.2196/49560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Revised: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Digital contact tracing and notification were initially hailed as promising strategies to combat SARS-CoV-2; however, in most jurisdictions, they did not live up to their promise. To avert a given transmission event, both parties must have adopted the technology, it must detect the contact, the primary case must be promptly diagnosed, notifications must be triggered, and the secondary case must change their behavior to avoid the focal tertiary transmission event. If we approximate these as independent events, achieving a 26% reduction in the effective reproduction number Rt would require an 80% success rate at each of these 6 points of failure. Here, we review the 6 failure rates experienced by a variety of digital contact tracing and contact notification schemes, including Singapore's TraceTogether, India's Aarogya Setu, and leading implementations of the Google Apple Exposure Notification system. This leads to a number of recommendations, for example, that the narrative be framed in terms of user autonomy rather than user privacy, and that tracing/notification apps be multifunctional and integrated with testing, manual contact tracing, and the gathering of critical scientific data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Masel
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States
| | - James Ian Mackie Petrie
- Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
- Pandemic Sciences Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Big Data Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Jason Bay
- Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Wolfgang Ebbers
- Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Department of Public Administration and Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | | | | | - Andreas Gebhard
- Temporary Contact Number Protocol (TCN) Coalition, New York, NY, United States
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10
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Ter Haar W, Bosdriesz J, Venekamp RP, Schuit E, van den Hof S, Ebbers W, Kretzschmar M, Kluijtmans J, Moons C, Schim van der Loeff M, Matser A, van de Wijgert JHHM. The epidemiological impact of digital and manual contact tracing on the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in the Netherlands: Empirical evidence. PLOS DIGITAL HEALTH 2023; 2:e0000396. [PMID: 38157381 PMCID: PMC10756539 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pdig.0000396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
The Dutch government introduced the CoronaMelder smartphone application for digital contact tracing (DCT) to complement manual contact tracing (MCT) by Public Health Services (PHS) during the 2020-2022 SARS-CoV-2 epidemic. Modelling studies showed great potential but empirical evidence of DCT and MCT impact is scarce. We determined reasons for testing, and mean exposure-testing intervals by reason for testing, using routine data from PHS Amsterdam (1 December 2020 to 31 May 2021) and data from two SARS-CoV-2 rapid diagnostic test accuracy studies at other PHS sites in the Netherlands (14 December 2020 to 18 June 2021). Throughout the study periods, notification of DCT-identified contacts was via PHS contact-tracers, and self-testing was not yet widely available. The most commonly reported reason for testing was having symptoms. In asymptomatic individuals, it was having been warned by an index case. Only around 2% and 2-5% of all tests took place after DCT or MCT notification, respectively. About 20-36% of those who had received a DCT or MCT notification had symptoms at the time of test request. Test positivity after a DCT notification was significantly lower, and exposure-test intervals after a DCT or MCT notification were longer, than for the above-mentioned other reasons for testing. Our data suggest that the impact of DCT and MCT on the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in the Netherlands was limited. However, DCT impact might be enlarged if app use coverage is improved, contact-tracers are eliminated from the digital notification process to minimise delays, and DCT is combined with self-testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wianne Ter Haar
- Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
- Public Health Service (GGD) of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Jizzo Bosdriesz
- Public Health Service (GGD) of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Roderick P. Venekamp
- Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Ewoud Schuit
- Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Susan van den Hof
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands
| | - Wolfgang Ebbers
- Department of Public Administration and Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Mirjam Kretzschmar
- Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands
| | - Jan Kluijtmans
- Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
- Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Carl Moons
- Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Maarten Schim van der Loeff
- Public Health Service (GGD) of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Amy Matser
- Public Health Service (GGD) of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Janneke H. H. M. van de Wijgert
- Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands
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11
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Wang HC, Lin TY, Yao YC, Hsu CY, Yang CJ, Chen THH, Yeh YP. Community-Based Digital Contact Tracing of Emerging Infectious Diseases: Design and Implementation Study With Empirical COVID-19 Cases. J Med Internet Res 2023; 25:e47219. [PMID: 37938887 PMCID: PMC10666017 DOI: 10.2196/47219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2023] [Revised: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Contact tracing for containing emerging infectious diseases such as COVID-19 is resource intensive and requires digital transformation to enable timely decision-making. OBJECTIVE This study demonstrates the design and implementation of digital contact tracing using multimodal health informatics to efficiently collect personal information and contain community outbreaks. The implementation of digital contact tracing was further illustrated by 3 empirical SARS-CoV-2 infection clusters. METHODS The implementation in Changhua, Taiwan, served as a demonstration of the multisectoral informatics and connectivity between electronic health systems needed for digital contact tracing. The framework incorporates traditional travel, occupation, contact, and cluster approaches and a dynamic contact process enabled by digital technology. A centralized registry system, accessible only to authorized health personnel, ensures privacy and data security. The efficiency of the digital contact tracing system was evaluated through a field study in Changhua. RESULTS The digital contact tracing system integrates the immigration registry, communicable disease report system, and national health records to provide real-time information about travel, occupation, contact, and clusters for potential contacts and to facilitate a timely assessment of the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The digitalized system allows for informed decision-making regarding quarantine, isolation, and treatment, with a focus on personal privacy. In the first cluster infection, the system monitored 665 contacts and isolated 4 (0.6%) cases; none of the contacts (0/665, 0%) were infected during quarantine. The estimated reproduction number of 0.92 suggests an effective containment strategy for preventing community-acquired outbreak. The system was also used in a cluster investigation involving foreign workers, where none of the 462 contacts (0/462, 0%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. CONCLUSIONS By integrating the multisectoral database, the contact tracing process can be digitalized to provide the information required for risk assessment and decision-making in a timely manner to contain a community-acquired outbreak when facing the outbreak of emerging infectious disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsiao-Chi Wang
- Changhua County Public Health Bureau, Changhua County, Taiwan
| | - Ting-Yu Lin
- Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Chin Yao
- Changhua County Public Health Bureau, Changhua County, Taiwan
| | - Chen-Yang Hsu
- Master of Public Health Program, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Chang-Jung Yang
- Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Tony Hsiu-Hsi Chen
- Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yen-Po Yeh
- Changhua County Public Health Bureau, Changhua County, Taiwan
- Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
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12
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Liu AB, Lee D, Jalihal AP, Hanage WP, Springer M. Quantitatively assessing early detection strategies for mitigating COVID-19 and future pandemics. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2023:2023.06.08.23291050. [PMID: 37398047 PMCID: PMC10312821 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.08.23291050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/04/2023]
Abstract
Researchers and policymakers have proposed systems to detect novel pathogens earlier than existing surveillance systems by monitoring samples from hospital patients, wastewater, and air travel, in order to mitigate future pandemics. How much benefit would such systems offer? We developed, empirically validated, and mathematically characterized a quantitative model that simulates disease spread and detection time for any given disease and detection system. We find that hospital monitoring could have detected COVID-19 in Wuhan 0.4 weeks earlier than it was actually discovered, at 2,300 cases (standard error: 76 cases) compared to 3,400 (standard error: 161 cases). Wastewater monitoring would not have accelerated COVID-19 detection in Wuhan, but provides benefit in smaller catchments and for asymptomatic or long-incubation diseases like polio or HIV/AIDS. Monitoring of air travel provides little benefit in most scenarios we evaluated. In sum, early detection systems can substantially mitigate some future pandemics, but would not have changed the course of COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Bo Liu
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daniel Lee
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - William P. Hanage
- Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Boston, MA, USA
| | - Michael Springer
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
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13
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Boelsums TL, van de Luitgaarden IAT, Whelan J, Poell H, Hoffman CM, Fanoy E, Buskermolen M, Richardus JH. The value of manual backward contact tracing to control COVID-19 in practice, the Netherlands, February to March 2021: a pilot study. Euro Surveill 2023; 28:2200916. [PMID: 37824253 PMCID: PMC10571494 DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.es.2023.28.41.2200916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023] Open
Abstract
BackgroundContact tracing has been a key component of COVID-19 outbreak control. Backward contact tracing (BCT) aims to trace the source that infected the index case and, thereafter, the cases infected by the source. Modelling studies have suggested BCT will substantially reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission in addition to forward contact tracing.AimTo assess the feasibility and impact of adding BCT in practice.MethodsWe identified COVID-19 cases who were already registered in the electronic database between 19 February and 10 March 2021 for routine contact tracing at the Public Health Service (PHS) of Rotterdam-Rijnmond, the Netherlands (pop. 1.3 million). We investigated if, through a structured questionnaire by dedicated contact tracers, we could trace additional sources and cases infected by these sources. Potential sources identified by the index were approached to trace the source's contacts. We evaluated the number of source contacts that could be additionally quarantined.ResultsOf 7,448 COVID-19 cases interviewed in the study period, 47% (n = 3,497) indicated a source that was already registered as a case in the PHS electronic database. A potential, not yet registered source was traced in 13% (n = 979). Backward contact tracing was possible in 62 of 979 cases, from whom an additional 133 potential sources were traced, and four were eligible for tracing of source contacts. Two additional contacts traced had to stay in quarantine for 1 day. No new COVID-19 cases were confirmed.ConclusionsThe addition of manual BCT to control the COVID-19 pandemic did not provide added value in our study setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timo Louis Boelsums
- Department of Infectious Disease Control, Public Health Service Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | | | - Jane Whelan
- Department of Infectious Disease Control, Public Health Service Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Hanna Poell
- Department of Infectious Disease Control, Public Health Service Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Charlotte Maria Hoffman
- Department of Infectious Disease Control, Public Health Service Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Ewout Fanoy
- Department of Infectious Disease Control, Public Health Service Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Infectious Disease Control, Public Health Service Amsterdam-Amstelland, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Maaike Buskermolen
- Department of Infectious Disease Control, Public Health Service Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jan Hendrik Richardus
- Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
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14
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Huang J, Kwan MP, Tse LA, He SY. How People's COVID-19 Induced-Worries and Multiple Environmental Exposures Are Associated with Their Depression, Anxiety, and Stress during the Pandemic. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 20:6620. [PMID: 37623202 PMCID: PMC10454930 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20166620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Revised: 08/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023]
Abstract
This study investigates how people's perceived COVID-19 risk, worries about financial hardship, job loss, and family conflicts, and exposures to greenspace, PM2.5, and noise (in people's residential neighborhoods and daily activity locations) are related to their depression, anxiety, and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a two-day activity-travel diary, a questionnaire, and real-time air pollutant and noise sensors, a survey was conducted to collect data from 221 participants living in two residential neighborhoods of Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic. Linear regression was conducted to explore the relationships. Significant associations between people's COVID-19-related worries and exposures to grassland and PM2.5 with depression, anxiety, and stress were found in the results. These associations with depression, anxiety, and stress vary depending on people's demographic attributes. These results can help direct the public authorities' efforts in dealing with the public mental health crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianwei Huang
- Institute of Space and Earth Information Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China; (J.H.); (L.A.T.)
| | - Mei-Po Kwan
- Institute of Space and Earth Information Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China; (J.H.); (L.A.T.)
- Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China;
| | - Lap Ah Tse
- Institute of Space and Earth Information Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China; (J.H.); (L.A.T.)
- Division of Occupational and Environmental Health, JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China
| | - Sylvia Y. He
- Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China;
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15
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Ódor G, Vuckovic J, Ndoye MAS, Thiran P. Source identification via contact tracing in the presence of asymptomatic patients. APPLIED NETWORK SCIENCE 2023; 8:53. [PMID: 37614376 PMCID: PMC10442312 DOI: 10.1007/s41109-023-00566-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023]
Abstract
Inferring the source of a diffusion in a large network of agents is a difficult but feasible task, if a few agents act as sensors revealing the time at which they got hit by the diffusion. One of the main limitations of current source identification algorithms is that they assume full knowledge of the contact network, which is rarely the case, especially for epidemics, where the source is called patient zero. Inspired by recent implementations of contact tracing algorithms, we propose a new framework, which we call Source Identification via Contact Tracing Framework (SICTF). In the SICTF, the source identification task starts at the time of the first hospitalization, and initially we have no knowledge about the contact network other than the identity of the first hospitalized agent. We may then explore the network by contact queries, and obtain symptom onset times by test queries in an adaptive way, i.e., both contact and test queries can depend on the outcome of previous queries. We also assume that some of the agents may be asymptomatic, and therefore cannot reveal their symptom onset time. Our goal is to find patient zero with as few contact and test queries as possible. We implement two local search algorithms for the SICTF: the LS algorithm, which has recently been proposed by Waniek et al. in a similar framework, is more data-efficient, but can fail to find the true source if many asymptomatic agents are present, whereas the LS+ algorithm is more robust to asymptomatic agents. By simulations we show that both LS and LS+ outperform previously proposed adaptive and non-adaptive source identification algorithms adapted to the SICTF, even though these baseline algorithms have full access to the contact network. Extending the theory of random exponential trees, we analytically approximate the source identification probability of the LS/ LS+ algorithms, and we show that our analytic results match the simulations. Finally, we benchmark our algorithms on the Data-driven COVID-19 Simulator (DCS) developed by Lorch et al., which is the first time source identification algorithms are tested on such a complex dataset.
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16
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Jeong Y, Kang S, Kim B, Gil YJ, Hwang SS, Cho SI. Utilization of the Unlinked Case Proportion to Control COVID-19: A Focus on the Non-pharmaceutical Interventional Policies of the Korea and Japan. J Prev Med Public Health 2023; 56:377-383. [PMID: 37551076 PMCID: PMC10415646 DOI: 10.3961/jpmph.23.056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 05/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Korea and Japan have managed the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) using markedly different policies, referred to as the "3T" and "3C" strategies, respectively. This study examined these differences to assess the roles of active testing and contact tracing as non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). We compared the proportion of unlinked cases (UCs) and test positivity rate (TPR) as indicators of tracing and testing capacities. METHODS We outlined the evolution of NPI policies and investigated temporal trends in their correlations with UCs, confirmed cases, and TPR prior to the Omicron peak. Spearman correlation coefficients were reported between the proportion of UCs, confirmed cases, and TPR. The Fisher r-to-z transformation was employed to examine the significance of differences between correlation coefficients. RESULTS The proportion of UCs was significantly correlated with confirmed cases (r=0.995, p<0.001) and TPR (r=0.659, p<0.001) in Korea and with confirmed cases (r=0.437, p<0.001) and TPR (r=0.429, p<0.001) in Japan. The Fisher r-to-z test revealed significant differences in correlation coefficients between the proportion of UCs and confirmed cases (z=16.07, p<0.001) and between the proportion of UCs and TPR (z=2.12, p=0.034) in Korea and Japan. CONCLUSIONS Higher UCs were associated with increases in confirmed cases and TPR, indicating the importance of combining testing and contact tracing in controlling COVID-19. The implementation of stricter policies led to stronger correlations between these indicators. The proportion of UCs and TPR effectively indicated the effectiveness of NPIs. If the proportion of UCs shows an upward trend, more testing and contact tracing may be required.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yeri Jeong
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul,
Korea
| | - Sanggu Kang
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul,
Korea
| | - Boeun Kim
- Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul,
Korea
| | - Yong Jin Gil
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul,
Korea
| | - Seung-sik Hwang
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul,
Korea
| | - Sung-il Cho
- Department of Public Health Science, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul,
Korea
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17
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Bayly H, Stoddard M, Egeren DV, Murray EJ, Raifman J, Chakravarty A, White LF. Looking under the lamp-post: quantifying the performance of contact tracing in the United States during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-2953875. [PMID: 37333276 PMCID: PMC10274953 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2953875/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/20/2023]
Abstract
Contact tracing forms a crucial part of the public-health toolbox in mitigating and understanding emergent pathogens and nascent disease outbreaks. Contact tracing in the United States was conducted during the pre-Omicron phase of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This tracing relied on voluntary reporting and responses, often using rapid antigen tests (with a high false negative rate) due to lack of accessibility to PCR tests. These limitations, combined with SARS-CoV-2's propensity for asymptomatic transmission, raise the question "how reliable was contact tracing for COVID-19 in the United States"? We answered this question using a Markov model to examine the efficiency with which transmission could be detected based on the design and response rates of contact tracing studies in the United States. Our results suggest that contact tracing protocols in the U.S. are unlikely to have identified more than 1.65% (95% uncertainty interval: 1.62%-1.68%) of transmission events with PCR testing and 0.88% (95% uncertainty interval 0.86%-0.89%) with rapid antigen testing. When considering an optimal scenario, based on compliance rates in East Asia with PCR testing, this increases to 62.7% (95% uncertainty interval: 62.6%-62.8%). These findings highlight the limitations in interpretability for studies of SARS-CoV-2 disease spread based on U.S. contact tracing and underscore the vulnerability of the population to future disease outbreaks, for SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens.
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18
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Nie Y, Zhong M, Li R, Zhao D, Peng H, Zhong X, Lin T, Wang W. Digital contact tracing on hypergraphs. CHAOS (WOODBURY, N.Y.) 2023; 33:063146. [PMID: 37347642 DOI: 10.1063/5.0149384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023]
Abstract
The higher-order interactions emerging in the network topology affect the effectiveness of digital contact tracing (DCT). In this paper, we propose a mathematical model in which we use the hypergraph to describe the gathering events. In our model, the role of DCT is modeled as individuals carrying the app. When the individuals in the hyperedge all carry the app, epidemics cannot spread through this hyperedge. We develop a generalized percolation theory to investigate the epidemic outbreak size and threshold. We find that DCT can effectively suppress the epidemic spreading, i.e., decreasing the outbreak size and enlarging the threshold. DCT limits the spread of the epidemic to larger cardinality of hyperedges. On real-world networks, the inhibitory effect of DCT on the spread of epidemics is evident when the spread of epidemics is small.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanyi Nie
- School of Public Health, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
- College of Computer Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Ming Zhong
- College of Mathematics and Computer Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Runchao Li
- College of Mathematics and Computer Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Dandan Zhao
- College of Mathematics and Computer Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Hao Peng
- College of Mathematics and Computer Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Xiaoni Zhong
- School of Public Health, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
| | - Tao Lin
- College of Computer Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Wei Wang
- School of Public Health, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
- Research Center of Public Health Security, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
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19
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Zhang B, Lei H, Cai Y, Zhong Z, Jiao Z. COVID-19 contact tracking based on person reidentification and geospatial data. JOURNAL OF KING SAUD UNIVERSITY. COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCES 2023; 35:101558. [PMID: 37251782 PMCID: PMC10110285 DOI: 10.1016/j.jksuci.2023.101558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Efficient contact tracing is a crucial step in preventing the spread of COVID-19. However, the current methods rely heavily on manual investigation and truthful reporting by high-risk individuals. Mobile applications and Bluetooth-based contact tracing methods have also been adopted, but privacy concerns and reliance on personal data have limited their effectiveness. To address these challenges, in this paper, a geospatial big data method that combines person reidentification and geospatial information for contact tracing is proposed. The proposed real-time person reidentification model can identify individuals across multiple surveillance cameras, and the surveillance data is fused with geographic information and mapped onto a 3D geospatial model to track movement trajectories. After real-world verification, the proposed method achieves a first accuracy rate of 91.56%, a first-five accuracy rate of 97.70%, and a mean average precision of 78.03% with an inference speed of 13 ms per image. Importantly, the proposed method does not rely on personal information, mobile phones, or wearable devices, avoiding the limitations of existing contact tracing schemes and providing significant implications for public health in the post-COVID-19 era.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boxing Zhang
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Modern Control Technology, Institute of Intelligent Manufacturing, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
- Kunming University of Sciences and Technology, Faculty of Information Engineering and Automation, Kunming, China
| | - Huan Lei
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Modern Control Technology, Institute of Intelligent Manufacturing, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yingjie Cai
- Department of Electronic Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Zhenyu Zhong
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Modern Control Technology, Institute of Intelligent Manufacturing, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zeyu Jiao
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Modern Control Technology, Institute of Intelligent Manufacturing, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
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20
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Pozo-Martin F, Beltran Sanchez MA, Müller SA, Diaconu V, Weil K, El Bcheraoui C. Comparative effectiveness of contact tracing interventions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review. Eur J Epidemiol 2023; 38:243-266. [PMID: 36795349 PMCID: PMC9932408 DOI: 10.1007/s10654-023-00963-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/31/2022] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
Abstract
Contact tracing is a non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) widely used in the control of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its effectiveness may depend on a number of factors including the proportion of contacts traced, delays in tracing, the mode of contact tracing (e.g. forward, backward or bidirectional contact training), the types of contacts who are traced (e.g. contacts of index cases or contacts of contacts of index cases), or the setting where contacts are traced (e.g. the household or the workplace). We performed a systematic review of the evidence regarding the comparative effectiveness of contact tracing interventions. 78 studies were included in the review, 12 observational (ten ecological studies, one retrospective cohort study and one pre-post study with two patient cohorts) and 66 mathematical modelling studies. Based on the results from six of the 12 observational studies, contact tracing can be effective at controlling COVID-19. Two high quality ecological studies showed the incremental effectiveness of adding digital contact tracing to manual contact tracing. One ecological study of intermediate quality showed that increases in contact tracing were associated with a drop in COVID-19 mortality, and a pre-post study of acceptable quality showed that prompt contact tracing of contacts of COVID-19 case clusters / symptomatic individuals led to a reduction in the reproduction number R. Within the seven observational studies exploring the effectiveness of contact tracing in the context of the implementation of other non-pharmaceutical interventions, contact tracing was found to have an effect on COVID-19 epidemic control in two studies and not in the remaining five studies. However, a limitation in many of these studies is the lack of description of the extent of implementation of contact tracing interventions. Based on the results from the mathematical modelling studies, we identified the following highly effective policies: (1) manual contact tracing with high tracing coverage and either medium-term immunity, highly efficacious isolation/quarantine and/ or physical distancing (2) hybrid manual and digital contact tracing with high app adoption with highly effective isolation/ quarantine and social distancing, (3) secondary contact tracing, (4) eliminating contact tracing delays, (5) bidirectional contact tracing, (6) contact tracing with high coverage in reopening educational institutions. We also highlighted the role of social distancing to enhance the effectiveness of some of these interventions in the context of 2020 lockdown reopening. While limited, the evidence from observational studies shows a role for manual and digital contact tracing in controlling the COVID-19 epidemic. More empirical studies accounting for the extent of contact tracing implementation are required.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Pozo-Martin
- Evidence-based Public Health Unit, Centre for International Health Protection, Robert Koch Institute, Nordufer 20, 13353, Berlin, Germany.
| | | | - Sophie Alice Müller
- Centre for International Health Protection, Robert Koch Institute, Nordufer 20, 13353, Berlin, Germany
| | - Viorela Diaconu
- Evidence-based Public Health Unit, Centre for International Health Protection, Robert Koch Institute, Nordufer 20, 13353, Berlin, Germany
| | - Kilian Weil
- Evidence-based Public Health Unit, Centre for International Health Protection, Robert Koch Institute, Nordufer 20, 13353, Berlin, Germany
| | - Charbel El Bcheraoui
- Evidence-based Public Health Unit, Centre for International Health Protection, Robert Koch Institute, Nordufer 20, 13353, Berlin, Germany
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21
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Huang DW, Liu B, Bi J, Wang J, Wang M, Wang H. A coalitional game-based joint monitoring mechanism for combating COVID-19. COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS 2023; 199:168-176. [PMID: 36589785 PMCID: PMC9793961 DOI: 10.1016/j.comcom.2022.12.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2022] [Revised: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 12/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
In the absence of effective treatment for COVID-19, disease prevention and control have become a top priority across the world. However, the general lack of effective cooperation between communities makes it difficult to suppress the community spread of the global pandemic; hence repeated outbreaks of COVID-19 have become the norm. To address this problem, this paper considers community cooperation in disease monitoring and designs a joint epidemic monitoring mechanism, in which adjacent communities cooperate to enhance their monitoring capability. In this work, we formulate the epidemiological monitoring process as a coalitional game. Then, we propose a Shapley value-based payoffs distribution scheme for the coalitional game. A comprehensive analytical framework is developed to evaluate the advantages and sustainability of the cooperation between communities. Experimental results show that the proposed mechanism performs much better than the conventional non-cooperative monitoring design and can greatly increase each community's payoffs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Da-Wen Huang
- College of Computer Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, 610066, Sichuan, China
| | - Bing Liu
- Zhejiang Institute of Industry and Information Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jichao Bi
- State Key Laboratory of Industrial Control Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China
- Zhejiang Institute of Industry and Information Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jingpei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Industrial Control Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China
| | - Mengzhi Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Industrial Control Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China
| | - Huan Wang
- Guangdong Institute of Scientific and Technical Information, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
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22
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Ramírez Varela A, Contreras-Arrieta S, Tamayo-Cabeza G, Salas Zapata L, Caballero-Díaz Y, Hernández Florez LJ, Benavidez AP, Laajaj R, De la Hoz F, Buitrago Gutierrez G, Restrepo S, Behrentz E. Risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 transmission in close contacts of adults at high risk of infection due to occupation: results from the contact tracing strategy of the CoVIDA epidemiological surveillance study in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2020-2021. BMJ Open 2022; 12:e062487. [PMID: 36564109 PMCID: PMC9791111 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To estimate the risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 transmission in close contacts of adults at high risk of infection due to occupation, participants of the CoVIDA study, in Bogotá D.C., Colombia. SETTING The CoVIDA study was the largest COVID-19 intensified sentinel epidemiological surveillance study in Colombia thus far, performing over 60 000 RT-PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study implemented a contact tracing strategy (via telephone call) to support traditional surveillance actions performed by the local health authority. PARTICIPANTS Close contacts of participants from the CoVIDA study. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES SARS-CoV-2 testing results were obtained (RT-PCR with CoVIDA or self-reported results). The secondary attack rate (SAR) was calculated using contacts and primary cases features. RESULTS The CoVIDA study performed 1257 contact tracing procedures on primary cases. A total of 5551 close contacts were identified and 1050 secondary cases (21.1%) were found. The highest SAR was found in close contacts: (1) who were spouses (SAR=32.7%; 95% CI 29.1% to 36.4%), (2) of informally employed or unemployed primary cases (SAR=29.1%; 95% CI 25.5% to 32.8%), (3) of symptomatic primary cases (SAR of 25.9%; 95% CI 24.0% to 27.9%) and (4) living in households with more than three people (SAR=22.2%; 95% CI 20.7% to 23.8%). The spouses (OR 3.85; 95% CI 2.60 to 5.70), relatives (OR 1.89; 95% CI 1.33 to 2.70) and close contacts of a symptomatic primary case (OR 1.48; 95% CI 1.24 to 1.77) had an increased risk of being secondary cases compared with non-relatives and close contacts of an asymptomatic index case, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Contact tracing strategies must focus on households with socioeconomic vulnerabilities to guarantee isolation and testing to stop the spread of the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Leonardo Salas Zapata
- Observatorio de Salud, Secretaría Distrital de Salud de Bogotá, Bogotá D.C, Colombia
| | | | | | | | - Rachid Laajaj
- Department of Economics, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá DC, Colombia
| | - Fernando De la Hoz
- Departamento de Salud Pública, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá DC, Colombia
| | | | - Silvia Restrepo
- Department of Food and Chemical Engineering, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Eduardo Behrentz
- Vicerrectoría Administrativa y Financiera, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá DC, Colombia
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23
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Understanding the impact of digital contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic. PLOS DIGITAL HEALTH 2022; 1:e0000149. [PMID: 36812611 PMCID: PMC9931320 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pdig.0000149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Digital contact tracing (DCT) applications have been introduced in many countries to aid the containment of COVID-19 outbreaks. Initially, enthusiasm was high regarding their implementation as a non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI). However, no country was able to prevent larger outbreaks without falling back to harsher NPIs. Here, we discuss results of a stochastic infectious-disease model that provide insights in how the progression of an outbreak and key parameters such as detection probability, app participation and its distribution, as well as engagement of users impact DCT efficacy informed by results of empirical studies. We further show how contact heterogeneity and local contact clustering impact the intervention's efficacy. We conclude that DCT apps might have prevented cases on the order of single-digit percentages during single outbreaks for empirically plausible ranges of parameters, ignoring that a substantial part of these contacts would have been identified by manual contact tracing. This result is generally robust against changes in network topology with exceptions for homogeneous-degree, locally-clustered contact networks, on which the intervention prevents more infections. An improvement of efficacy is similarly observed when app participation is highly clustered. We find that DCT typically averts more cases during the super-critical phase of an epidemic when case counts are rising and the measured efficacy therefore depends on the time of evaluation.
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Fuente D, Hervás D, Rebollo M, Conejero JA, Oliver N. COVID-19 outbreaks analysis in the Valencian Region of Spain in the prelude of the third wave. Front Public Health 2022; 10:1010124. [PMID: 36466513 PMCID: PMC9713945 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1010124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 11/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented social and mobility restrictions on a global scale. Since its start in the spring of 2020, numerous scientific papers have been published on the characteristics of the virus, and the healthcare, economic and social consequences of the pandemic. However, in-depth analyses of the evolution of single coronavirus outbreaks have been rarely reported. Methods In this paper, we analyze the main properties of all the tracked COVID-19 outbreaks in the Valencian Region between September and December of 2020. Our analysis includes the evaluation of the origin, dynamic evolution, duration, and spatial distribution of the outbreaks. Results We find that the duration of the outbreaks follows a power-law distribution: most outbreaks are controlled within 2 weeks of their onset, and only a few last more than 2 months. We do not identify any significant differences in the outbreak properties with respect to the geographical location across the entire region. Finally, we also determine the cluster size distribution of each infection origin through a Bayesian statistical model. Discussion We hope that our work will assist in optimizing and planning the resource assignment for future pandemic tracking efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Fuente
- Instituto Universitario de Aplicaciones de las Tecnologías de la Información y de las Comunicaciones Avanzadas, Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain
| | - David Hervás
- Departamento de Estadística e Investigación Operativa Aplicadas y Calidad, Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain
| | - Miguel Rebollo
- Valencia Research Institute on Artificial Intelligence, Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain
| | - J. Alberto Conejero
- Instituto Universitario de Matemática Pura y Aplicada, Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain,*Correspondence: J. Alberto Conejero
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Willingness to share contacts in case of COVID-19 positivity–predictors of collaboration resistance in a nation-wide Italian survey. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0274902. [PMID: 36166436 PMCID: PMC9514658 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 09/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
The unwillingness to share contacts is one of the least explored aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we report the factors associated with resistance to collaborate on contact tracing, based on the results of a nation-wide survey conducted in Italy in January-March 2021.
Methods and findings
The repeated cross-sectional on-line survey was conducted among 7,513 respondents (mean age 45.7, 50.4% women) selected to represent the Italian adult population 18–70 years old. Two groups were defined based on the direct question response expressing (1) unwillingness or (2) willingness to share the names of individuals with whom respondents had contact. We selected 70% of participants (training data set) to produce several multivariable binomial generalized linear models and estimated the proportion of variation explained by the model by McFadden R2, and the model’s discriminatory ability by the index of concordance. Then, we have validated the regression models using the remaining 30% of respondents (testing data set), and identified the best performing model by removing the variables based on their impact on the Akaike information criterion and then evaluating the model predictive accuracy. We also performed a sensitivity analysis using principal component analysis.
Overall, 5.5% of the respondents indicated that in case of positive SARS-CoV-2 test they would not share contacts. Of note, this percentage varied from 0.8% to 46.5% depending on the answers to other survey questions. From the 139 questions included in the multivariable analysis, the initial model proposed 20 independent factors that were reduced to the 6 factors with only modest changes in the model performance. The 6-variables model demonstrated good performance in the training (c-index 0.85 and McFadden R2 criteria 0.25) and in the testing data set (93.3% accuracy, AUC 0.78, sensitivity 30.4% and specificity 97.4%). The most influential factors related to unwillingness to share contacts were the lack of intention to perform the test in case of contact with a COVID-19 positive individual (OR 5.60, 95% CI 4.14 to 7.58, in a fully adjusted multivariable analysis), disagreement that the government should be allowed to force people into self-isolation (OR 1.79, 95% CI 1.12 to 2.84), disagreement with the national vaccination schedule (OR 2.63, 95% CI 1.86 to 3.69), not following to the preventive anti-COVID measures (OR 3.23, 95% CI 1.85 to 5.59), the absence of people in the immediate social environment who have been infected with COVID-19 (1.66, 95% CI 1.24 to 2.21), as well as difficulties in finding or understanding the information about the infection or related recommendations. A limitation of this study is the under-representation of persons not participating in internet-based surveys and some vulnerable groups like homeless people, persons with disabilities or migrants.
Conclusions
Our analysis revealed several groups that expressed unwillingness to collaborate on contact tracing. The identified patterns may play a principal role not only in the COVID-19 epidemic but also be important for possible future public health threats, and appropriate interventions for their correction should be developed and ready for the implementation.
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Lucien MAB, Pierre K, Jean-Denis G, Rigodon J, Worrell CM, Couture A, Flynn A, Calderon MC, Codina LF, Vicari AS, Marseille S, Jean Baptiste KT, Fouche B, Joseph G, Journel I, Rendel K, Grant-Greene Y, Jean-Charles NP, Lafontant D, Amouzou S, Pierre W, Clement MGR, Juin S, Boncy J, Dely P. Epidemiology and risk factors related to severity of clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in outpatients: A retrospective study in Haiti. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0274760. [PMID: 36129879 PMCID: PMC9491605 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274760] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Haiti’s first COVID-19 cases were confirmed on March 18, 2020, and subsequently spread throughout the country. The objective of this study was to describe clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in Haitian outpatients and to identify risk factors for severity of clinical manifestations. Methods We conducted a retrospective study of COVID-19 outpatients diagnosed from March 18-August 4, 2020, using demographic, epidemiological, and clinical data reported to the Ministry of Health (MoH). We used univariate and multivariate analysis, including multivariable logistic regression, to explore the risk factors and specific symptoms related to persons with symptomatic COVID-19 and the severity of symptomatic COVID-19 disease. Results Of 5,389 cases reported to MOH during the study period, 1,754 (32.5%) were asymptomatic. Amongst symptomatic persons 2,747 (75.6%) had mild COVID-19 and 888 (24.4%) had moderate-to-severe disease; the most common symptoms were fever (69.6%), cough (51.9%), and myalgia (45.8%). The odds of having moderate-to-severe disease were highest among persons with hypertension (aOR = 1.72, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] (1.34, 2.20), chronic pulmonary disease (aOR = 3.93, 95% CI (1.93, 8.17)) and tuberculosis (aOR = 3.44, 95% CI (1.35, 9.14)) compared to persons without those conditions. The odds of having moderate-to-severe disease increased with age but was also seen among children aged 0–4 years (OR: 1.73, 95% CI (0.93, 3.08)), when using 30–39 years old as the reference group. All of the older age groups, 50–64 years, 65–74 years, 75–84 years, and 85+ years, had significantly higher odds of having moderate-to-severe COVID-19 compared with ages 30–39 years. Diabetes was associated with elevated odds of moderate-to-severe disease in bivariate analysis (OR = 2.17, 95% CI (1.58,2.98) but, this association did not hold in multivariable analyses (aOR = 1.22,95%CI (0.86,1.72)). Conclusion These findings from a resource-constrained country highlight the importance of surveillance systems to track emerging infections and their risk factors. In addition to co-morbidities described elsewhere, tuberculosis was a risk factor for moderate-to-severe COVID-19 disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mentor Ali Ber Lucien
- National Public Health Laboratory (LNSP)/ Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP), Port au Prince, Haiti
| | - Katilla Pierre
- Directorate of Epidemiology, Laboratories and Research (DELR)/MSPP, Port au Prince, Haiti
| | - Gladzdin Jean-Denis
- Pan American Health Organization, World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), Port-au-Prince, Haiti
| | - Jonas Rigodon
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
- * E-mail:
| | - Caitlin M. Worrell
- Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Alexia Couture
- COVID-19 International Task Force Emergency Response Capacity Team, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Aspen Flynn
- COVID-19 International Task Force Emergency Response Capacity Team, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Mauricio Cerpa Calderon
- Pan American Health Organization, World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), Port-au-Prince, Haiti
| | - Luis Felipe Codina
- Pan American Health Organization, World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), Port-au-Prince, Haiti
| | - Andrea S. Vicari
- Pan American Health Organization, World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Samson Marseille
- Directorate of Epidemiology, Laboratories and Research (DELR)/MSPP, Port au Prince, Haiti
| | | | | | - Gerard Joseph
- National Public Health Laboratory (LNSP)/ Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP), Port au Prince, Haiti
| | - Ito Journel
- National Public Health Laboratory (LNSP)/ Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP), Port au Prince, Haiti
| | - Kenold Rendel
- Directorate of Epidemiology, Laboratories and Research (DELR)/MSPP, Port au Prince, Haiti
| | | | | | - Donald Lafontant
- Directorate of Epidemiology, Laboratories and Research (DELR)/MSPP, Port au Prince, Haiti
| | - Senou Amouzou
- Directorate of Epidemiology, Laboratories and Research (DELR)/MSPP, Port au Prince, Haiti
| | - Wilnique Pierre
- Directorate of Epidemiology, Laboratories and Research (DELR)/MSPP, Port au Prince, Haiti
| | | | - Stanley Juin
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
| | - Jacques Boncy
- National Public Health Laboratory (LNSP)/ Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP), Port au Prince, Haiti
| | - Patrick Dely
- Directorate of Epidemiology, Laboratories and Research (DELR)/MSPP, Port au Prince, Haiti
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Hendy A, Soliman SM, Al-Sharkawi SS, Alruwaili MF, Hassani R, Reshia FAA. Effect of Clustering Nursing Care on Spreading COVID-19 Infection Among Nurses: A Retrospective Study. Int J Gen Med 2022; 15:6801-6809. [PMID: 36051567 PMCID: PMC9426869 DOI: 10.2147/ijgm.s376726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The nurse’s first and most important responsibility is to protect themselves from contracting or spreading COVID-19. Purpose Investigate the effect of applying clustering nursing care on spreading COVID-19 infection and fatigue level among nurses who provide nursing care for COVID-19 patients. Methods Retrospective case–control study, where cases had a COVID-19 infection in the previous six months and controls were free. Internet-based survey sent to nurses at eight hospitals. Findings A total of 100 cases and 250 controls. About 36.8% of nurses who did not apply clustering care suffered from COVID-19 infection. Meanwhile, 83.3% and 93.3% of those who clustered three and four procedures, were free of COVID-19 infection. Discussion Applying clustering for nurses’ care decreases spreading of infection among nurses and decreases fatigue level related to work. Female nurses, increased fatigue, and a lack of training are all factors that may contribute to the spread of CVID-19 infection among nurses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdelaziz Hendy
- Pediatric Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Sahar M Soliman
- Department of Maternal & Neonatal Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Sabah Saad Al-Sharkawi
- Pediatric Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.,Faculty of Nursing, October 6 University, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Manar Fayez Alruwaili
- Nursing Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia.,College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Barry University, Miami, Florida, United states of America
| | - Rym Hassani
- Nursing department, University College of Sabya, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia
| | - Fadia Ahmed Abdelkader Reshia
- Nursing Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia.,Critical Care and Emergency Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt
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Zhang D, Britton T. Analysing the Effect of Test-and-Trace Strategy in an SIR Epidemic Model. Bull Math Biol 2022; 84:105. [PMID: 36001175 PMCID: PMC9400008 DOI: 10.1007/s11538-022-01065-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Consider a Markovian SIR epidemic model in a homogeneous community. To this model we add a rate at which individuals are tested, and once an infectious individual tests positive it is isolated and each of their contacts are traced and tested independently with some fixed probability. If such a traced individual tests positive it is isolated, and the contact tracing is iterated. This model is analysed using large population approximations, both for the early stage of the epidemic when the "to-be-traced components" of the epidemic behaves like a branching process, and for the main stage of the epidemic where the process of to-be-traced components converges to a deterministic process defined by a system of differential equations. These approximations are used to quantify the effect of testing and of contact tracing on the effective reproduction numbers (for the components as well as for the individuals), the probability of a major outbreak, and the final fraction getting infected. Using numerical illustrations when rates of infection and natural recovery are fixed, it is shown that Test-and-Trace strategy is effective in reducing the reproduction number. Surprisingly, the reproduction number for the branching process of components is not monotonically decreasing in the tracing probability, but the individual reproduction number is conjectured to be monotonic as expected. Further, in the situation where individuals also self-report for testing, the tracing probability is more influential than the screening rate (measured by the fraction infected being screened).
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongni Zhang
- Department of Mathematics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Tom Britton
- Department of Mathematics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
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29
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Empirical evidence on the efficiency of backward contact tracing in COVID-19. Nat Commun 2022; 13:4750. [PMID: 35963872 PMCID: PMC9375086 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32531-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
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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30
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Shaw D. COVID-19 conscience tracing: mapping the moral distances of coronavirus. JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ETHICS 2022; 48:530-533. [PMID: 34103367 PMCID: PMC8189825 DOI: 10.1136/medethics-2021-107326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
One of the many problems posed by the collective effort to tackle COVID-19 is non-compliance with restrictions. Some people would like to obey restrictions but cannot due to their job or other life circumstances; others are not good at following rules that restrict their liberty, even if the potential consequences of doing so are repeatedly made very clear to them. Among this group are a minority who simply do not care about the consequences of their actions. But many others fail to accurately perceive the harms that they might be causing. One of the main reasons for this is that the harms done by transmitting COVID-19 to someone else are morally distant from the agent, particularly in cases where infection is asymptomatic. In this paper, I describe seven different aspects of moral distance in the context of COVID-19, explore how they affect (lack of) motivation to obey restrictions, and suggest several ways in which such moral distance can be reduced - primarily through enhanced-contact tracing that makes it clear to individuals and the public precisely who they could be harming and how.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Shaw
- Health, Ethics and Society, Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University Faculty of Health Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht, Limburg, The Netherlands
- Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
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31
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Fromberg D, Ank N, Nielsen HL. COVID-19 contact tracing in the hospitals located in the North Denmark region: A retrospective review. J Infect Prev 2022; 23:228-234. [PMID: 36003129 PMCID: PMC9207588 DOI: 10.1177/17571774221107754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The Department of Infection Control, at our University Hospital conducted contact
tracing of COVID-19 positive patients and staff members at all hospitals in the North
Denmark Region. Aim To describe the contact tracing performed during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Region
and its outcomes. Methods Data from each contact tracing were collected prospectively during 14 May 2020–26 May
2021. Data included information about the index case (patient or hospital staff member),
presentation (asymptomatic vs symptomatic), probable source of transmission
(community-acquired or hospital-acquired), number of close contacts and if any of these
were SARS-CoV-2 PCR-test positive. Findings 362 contact tracing were performed. A total of 573 COVID-19 positive cases were
identified among 171 (30%) patients and 402 (70%) staff members. 192 (34%) of all cases
were tested due to symptoms of COVID-19, whereas two-third were tested for other reasons
including outbreak and systematic screening tests. A total of 1575 close contacts were
identified, including 225 (14%) patients and 1350 (86%) staff members. 100 (6%) close
contacts, including 24 patients and 76 staff members, were infected with SARS-CoV-2, of
which 33 (43%) staff members was positive at day 0 i.e. the same day as being identified
as close contacts. Discussion We found a three to one of close contacts to each index case, but only 6% became
SARS-CoV-2 positive, with a surprisingly high number of those identified at day 0. Our
data confirm that regular testing of patients and staff will identify asymptomatic
carriers and thereby prevent new cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorte Fromberg
- Department of Clinical Microbiology, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Nina Ank
- Department of Clinical Microbiology, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Hans L Nielsen
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
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32
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Chen P, Zhang D, Liu J, Jian IY. Assessing personal exposure to COVID-19 transmission in public indoor spaces based on fine-grained trajectory data: A simulation study. BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT 2022; 218:109153. [PMID: 35531051 PMCID: PMC9066746 DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Revised: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2022] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed substantial challenges to worldwide health systems in quick response to epidemics. The assessment of personal exposure to COVID-19 in enclosed spaces is critical to identifying potential infectees and preventing outbreaks. However, traditional contact tracing methods rely heavily on a manual interview, which is costly and time consuming given the large population involved. With advanced indoor localisation techniques, it is possible to collect people's footprints accurately by locating their smartphones. This study presents a new framework for the assessment of personal exposure to COVID-19 carriers using their fine-grained trajectory data. An integral model was established to quantify the exposure risk, in which the spatial and temporal decay effects are simultaneously considered when modelling the airborne transmission of COVID-19. Regarding the obstacle effect of the indoor layout on airborne transmission, a weight graph based on the space syntax technique was further introduced to constrain the transmission strength between subspaces that are less inter-visible. The proposed framework was demonstrated by a simulation study, in which external comparison and internal analysis were conducted to justify its validity and robustness in different scenarios. Our method is expected to promote the efficient identification of potential infectees and provide an extensible spatial-temporal model to simulate different control measures and examine their effectiveness in a built environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengfei Chen
- School of Geospatial Engineering and Science, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, Guangdong, China
- The Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, 519082, Guangdong, China
| | - Dongchu Zhang
- School of Geospatial Engineering and Science, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, Guangdong, China
| | - Jianxiao Liu
- Department of Real Estate and Construction, Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong, 999077, Hong Kong, China
| | - Izzy Yi Jian
- School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 999077, Hong Kong, China
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33
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Wang H, Moore JM, Small M, Wang J, Yang H, Gu C. Epidemic dynamics on higher-dimensional small world networks. APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTATION 2022; 421:126911. [PMID: 35068617 PMCID: PMC8759951 DOI: 10.1016/j.amc.2021.126911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Revised: 12/26/2021] [Accepted: 12/29/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Dimension governs dynamical processes on networks. The social and technological networks which we encounter in everyday life span a wide range of dimensions, but studies of spreading on finite-dimensional networks are usually restricted to one or two dimensions. To facilitate investigation of the impact of dimension on spreading processes, we define a flexible higher-dimensional small world network model and characterize the dependence of its structural properties on dimension. Subsequently, we derive mean field, pair approximation, intertwined continuous Markov chain and probabilistic discrete Markov chain models of a COVID-19-inspired susceptible-exposed-infected-removed (SEIR) epidemic process with quarantine and isolation strategies, and for each model identify the basic reproduction number R 0 , which determines whether an introduced infinitesimal level of infection in an initially susceptible population will shrink or grow. We apply these four continuous state models, together with discrete state Monte Carlo simulations, to analyse how spreading varies with model parameters. Both network properties and the outcome of Monte Carlo simulations vary substantially with dimension or rewiring rate, but predictions of continuous state models change only slightly. A different trend appears for epidemic model parameters: as these vary, the outcomes of Monte Carlo change less than those of continuous state methods. Furthermore, under a wide range of conditions, the four continuous state approximations present similar deviations from the outcome of Monte Carlo simulations. This bias is usually least when using the pair approximation model, varies only slightly with network size, and decreases with dimension or rewiring rate. Finally, we characterize the discrepancies between Monte Carlo and continuous state models by simultaneously considering network efficiency and network size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haiying Wang
- Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 334 Jungong Road, Shanghai, 200093, China
| | - Jack Murdoch Moore
- School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, Western Australia, China
| | - Michael Small
- Complex Systems Group, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, 6009, Australia
- Mineral Resources, CSIRO, 26 Dick Perry Ave, Kensington, 6151, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Jun Wang
- School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, 37 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Huijie Yang
- Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 334 Jungong Road, Shanghai, 200093, China
| | - Changgui Gu
- Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 334 Jungong Road, Shanghai, 200093, China
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34
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Mancastroppa M, Guizzo A, Castellano C, Vezzani A, Burioni R. Sideward contact tracing and the control of epidemics in large gatherings. J R Soc Interface 2022; 19:20220048. [PMID: 35537473 PMCID: PMC9090492 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2022.0048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Effective contact tracing is crucial to containing epidemic spreading without disrupting societal activities, especially during a pandemic. Large gatherings play a key role, potentially favouring superspreading events. However, the effects of tracing in large groups have not been fully assessed so far. We show that in addition to forward tracing, which reconstructs to whom the disease spreads, and backward tracing, which searches from whom the disease spreads, a third 'sideward' tracing is always present, when tracing gatherings. This is an indirect tracing that detects infected asymptomatic individuals, even if they have been neither directly infected by nor directly transmitted the infection to the index case. We analyse this effect in a model of epidemic spreading for SARS-CoV-2, within the framework of simplicial activity-driven temporal networks. We determine the contribution of the three tracing mechanisms to the suppression of epidemic spreading, showing that sideward tracing induces a non-monotonic behaviour in the tracing efficiency, as a function of the size of the gatherings. Based on our results, we suggest an optimal choice for the sizes of the gatherings to be traced and we test the strategy on an empirical dataset of gatherings on a university campus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Mancastroppa
- Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche, Fisiche e Informatiche, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze, 7/A 43124 Parma, Italy.,INFN, Sezione di Milano Bicocca, Gruppo Collegato di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze, 7/A 43124 Parma, Italy
| | - Andrea Guizzo
- Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche, Fisiche e Informatiche, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze, 7/A 43124 Parma, Italy.,INFN, Sezione di Milano Bicocca, Gruppo Collegato di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze, 7/A 43124 Parma, Italy
| | - Claudio Castellano
- Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi (ISC-CNR), Via dei Taurini 19, I-00185 Roma, Italy
| | - Alessandro Vezzani
- Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche, Fisiche e Informatiche, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze, 7/A 43124 Parma, Italy.,INFN, Sezione di Milano Bicocca, Gruppo Collegato di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze, 7/A 43124 Parma, Italy.,Istituto dei Materiali per l'Elettronica ed il Magnetismo (IMEM-CNR), Parco Area delle Scienze, 37/A 43124 Parma, Italy
| | - Raffaella Burioni
- Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche, Fisiche e Informatiche, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze, 7/A 43124 Parma, Italy.,INFN, Sezione di Milano Bicocca, Gruppo Collegato di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze, 7/A 43124 Parma, Italy
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Berrig C, Andreasen V, Frost Nielsen B. Heterogeneity in testing for infectious diseases. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220129. [PMID: 35600424 PMCID: PMC9114977 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Accepted: 04/28/2022] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Testing strategies have varied widely between nation states during the COVID-19 pandemic, in intensity as well as methodology. Some countries have mainly performed diagnostic testing while others have opted for mass-screening for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 as well. COVID passport solutions have been introduced, in which access to several aspects of public life requires either testing, proof of vaccination or a combination thereof. This creates a coupling between personal activity levels and testing behaviour which, as we show in a mathematical model, leverages heterogeneous behaviours in a population and turns this heterogeneity from a disadvantage to an advantage for epidemic control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Berrig
- Department of Science and Environment, Roskilde University, Universitetsvej 1, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Viggo Andreasen
- Department of Science and Environment, Roskilde University, Universitetsvej 1, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Bjarke Frost Nielsen
- Department of Science and Environment, Roskilde University, Universitetsvej 1, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
- Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 17, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
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36
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Listening to bluetooth beacons for epidemic risk mitigation. Sci Rep 2022; 12:5558. [PMID: 35365709 PMCID: PMC8973681 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09440-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic let to efforts to develop and deploy digital contact tracing systems to expedite contact tracing and risk notification. Unfortunately, the success of these systems has been limited, partly owing to poor interoperability with manual contact tracing, low adoption rates, and a societally sensitive trade-off between utility and privacy. In this work, we introduce a new privacy-preserving and inclusive system for epidemic risk assessment and notification that aims to address these limitations. Rather than capturing pairwise encounters between user devices as done by existing systems, our system captures encounters between user devices and beacons placed in strategic locations where infection clusters may originate. Epidemiological simulations using an agent-based model demonstrate that, by utilizing location and environmental information and interoperating with manual contact tracing, our system can increase the accuracy of contact tracing actions and may help reduce epidemic spread already at low adoption.
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Elías LL, Elías SL, Del Rey AM. An analysis of contact tracing protocol in an over-dispersed SEIQR Covid-like disease. PHYSICA A 2022; 590:126754. [PMID: 34924687 PMCID: PMC8670085 DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2021.126754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2021] [Revised: 09/26/2021] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
The aim of this work is to study an over-dispersed SEIQR infectious disease and obtain optimal methods of contact tracing. A prototypical example of such a disease is that of the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. In consequence, this study is immediately applicable to the current health crisis. In this paper, we introduce both a discrete and continuous model for various modes of contact tracing. From the continuous model, we derive a basic reproductive number and study the stability of the equilibrium points. We also implement the continuous and discrete models numerically and further analyze the effectiveness of different types of contact tracing and their cost on society. Additionally, through these simulations, we also study the effect that various parameters of the disease have on its evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - A Martín Del Rey
- University of Salamanca, Institute of Fundamental Physics and Mathematics, Department of Applied Mathematics, Salamanca, Spain
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38
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Lai D, Cai Y, Chan TH, Gan D, Hurson AN, Zhang YD. How to organise travel restrictions in the new future: lessons from the COVID-19 response in Hong Kong and Singapore. BMJ Glob Health 2022; 7:bmjgh-2021-006975. [PMID: 35228258 PMCID: PMC8886091 DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-006975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 02/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
It has been nearly 2 years since the first case of COVID-19 was reported. Governments worldwide have introduced numerous non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to combat this disease. Many of these NPIs were designed in response to initial outbreaks but are unsustainable in the long term. Governments are exploring how to adjust their current NPIs to resume normal activities while effectively protecting their population. As one of the most controversial NPIs, the implementation of travel restrictions varies across regions. Some governments have abandoned their previous travel restrictions because of the induced costs to society and on the economy. Other areas, including Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China) and Singapore, continue employing these NPIs as a long-term disease prevention tactic. However, the multidimensional impacts of travel restrictions require careful consideration of how to apply restrictions more appropriately. We have proposed an adapted framework to examine Hong Kong and Singapore’s travel restrictions. We aimed to study these two regions’ experiences in balancing disease control efforts with easing the burden on lives and livelihoods. Based on the experiences of Hong Kong and Singapore, we have outlined six policy recommendations to serve as the cornerstone for future research and policy practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daoyuan Lai
- Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuxi Cai
- Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China
| | - Tsai Hor Chan
- Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China
| | - Dailin Gan
- Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA
| | - Amber N Hurson
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Yan Dora Zhang
- Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China .,Centre for PanorOmic Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China
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Adrizain R, Jubaedah S, Fitriany EN, Wicaksana R, Hartantri Y, Prihatini D, Turbawati DK, Andriyoko B, Ramdan A, Rachman IA, Sudiro M, Lasminingrum L. Impact of social activity restriction and routine patient screening as a preventive measurement for tertiary referral hospital staff in a country with high COVID-19 incidence. IJID REGIONS 2022; 2:45-50. [PMID: 35721424 PMCID: PMC8616690 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijregi.2021.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2021] [Revised: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Health care workers are a high risk population for COVID-19 reinfection Vaccination breakthrough cases found after the mass vaccination program Social activity restriction is effective in lowering COVID-19 case numbers Routine screening for all patients recommended for a safe working environment
Background Measuring COVID-19 incidence among hospital staff and the influencing factors and preventative measures affecting outcomes is important given their high risk of exposure and potential impacts on health service provision. Method Study participants included all hospital staff with COVID-19 confirmed by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from March 2020 to July 2021. Data were collected on age, gender, occupation, working area, symptoms and vaccination status. We also collected data on pediatric oncology patients and their caregivers to review the hospital screening policy. Results Approximately 59% of positive cases among hospital staff occurred in the green zone; 75% were fully vaccinated. Whole-genome sequencing indicated that staff infections in June 2021 were Delta variant. A decrease in cases coincided with government implementation of social activity restriction. When RT-PCR was performed in suspected cases, 3 of 36 pediatric oncology patients and 10 staff tested positive. After routine screening, 8 of 121 patients, 3 patient caregivers, and 5 staff tested positive, all were asymptomatic, and all were infected in the community Conclusions Routine testing for staff, patients and caregivers, vaccination booster programs, continuing education of health care workers, and government policy, such as social activity restriction, are needed to protect frontline workers.
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Shridhar SV, Alexander M, Christakis NA. Characterizing super-spreaders using population-level weighted social networks in rural communities. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. SERIES A, MATHEMATICAL, PHYSICAL, AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES 2022; 380:20210123. [PMID: 34802276 DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2021.0123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2021] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Sociocentric network maps of entire populations, when combined with data on the nature of constituent dyadic relationships, offer the dual promise of advancing understanding of the relevance of networks for disease transmission and of improving epidemic forecasts. Here, using detailed sociocentric data collected over 4 years in a population of 24 702 people in 176 villages in Honduras, along with diarrhoeal and respiratory disease prevalence, we create a social-network-powered transmission model and identify super-spreading nodes as well as the nodes most vulnerable to infection, using agent-based Monte Carlo network simulations. We predict the extent of outbreaks for communicable diseases based on detailed social interaction patterns. Evidence from three waves of population-level surveys of diarrhoeal and respiratory illness indicates a meaningful positive correlation with the computed super-spreading capability and relative vulnerability of individual nodes. Previous research has identified super-spreaders through retrospective contact tracing or simulated networks. By contrast, our simulations predict that a node's super-spreading capability and its vulnerability in real communities are significantly affected by their connections, the nature of the interaction across these connections, individual characteristics (e.g. age and sex) that affect a person's ability to disperse a pathogen, and also the intrinsic characteristics of the pathogen (e.g. infectious period and latency). This article is part of the theme issue 'Data science approach to infectious disease surveillance'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shivkumar Vishnempet Shridhar
- School of Engineering and Applied Science, Yale University, 17 Hillhouse Ave, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
- Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, 17 Hillhouse Ave, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Marcus Alexander
- Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, 17 Hillhouse Ave, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Nicholas A Christakis
- Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, 17 Hillhouse Ave, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
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Differential impacts of contact tracing and lockdowns on outbreak size in COVID-19 model applied to China. J Theor Biol 2022; 532:110919. [PMID: 34592263 PMCID: PMC8474798 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Revised: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/22/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to widespread attention given to the notions of “flattening the curve” during lockdowns, and successful contact tracing programs suppressing outbreaks. However a more nuanced picture of these interventions’ effects on epidemic trajectories is necessary. By mathematical modeling each as reactive quarantine measures, dependent on current infection rates, with different mechanisms of action, we analytically derive distinct nonlinear effects of these interventions on final and peak outbreak size. We simultaneously fit the model to provincial reported case and aggregated quarantined contact data from China. Lockdowns compressed the outbreak in China inversely proportional to population quarantine rates, revealing their critical dependence on timing. Contact tracing had significantly less impact on final outbreak size, but did lead to peak size reduction. Our analysis suggests that altering the cumulative cases in a rapidly spreading outbreak requires sustained interventions that decrease the reproduction number close to one, otherwise some type of swift lockdown measure may be needed.
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Kwon O. Evidence of the importance of contact tracing in fighting the COVID-19. Epidemiol Health 2022; 44:e2022006. [PMID: 34990531 PMCID: PMC8989471 DOI: 10.4178/epih.e2022006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES We analyzed data to determine whether there are distinguishing characteristics depending on the success or failure of control for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by country in the trend of the daily number of confirmed cases and the number of tests. METHODS We obtained the number of confirmed cases and tests per day for almost every country in the world from Our World in Data. The Pearson correlation between the two time series was calculated according to the time delay to analyze the relationship between the number of tests and the number of cases with a lag. RESULTS For each country, we obtained the time lag that makes the maximum correlation between the number of confirmed cases and the number of tests for COVID-19. It can be seen that countries whose time lag making maximum correlation lies in a special section between about 15 days and 20 days are generally been successful in controlling COVID-19. That section looks like a trench on the battlefield. CONCLUSIONS We have seen the possibility that the success in mitigating COVID-19 can be expressed as a simple indicator of the time lag of the correlation between confirmed cases and tests. This time lag indicator is presumably reflected by efforts to actively trace the infected persons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Okyu Kwon
- National Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Daejeon, Korea
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43
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Gomes BM, Rebelo CB, Alves de Sousa L. Public health, surveillance systems and preventive medicine in an interconnected world. One Health 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-822794-7.00006-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
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44
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Kurihara M, Kamata K, Nakahara S, Kitazawa K, Koizumi S, Tokuda Y. Healthcare use and RT-PCR testing during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. J Gen Fam Med 2022; 23:3-8. [PMID: 35004104 PMCID: PMC8721334 DOI: 10.1002/jgf2.512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Revised: 11/11/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Rapid testing, tracing, and isolation among symptomatic patients are the standard for controlling the COVID-19. However, during spring 2020, Japan employed a RT-PCR test policy by using a guideline, which was used for the public to visit hospitals or clinics when they had mild symptoms for 4 days or longer ("4-day rule") among low-risk patients. It is unknown of patients' experience of healthcare use and testing during the period under the guideline. Thus, we investigated the healthcare visiting and testing among patients who developed cold-like symptoms during the period. METHODS Our survey was conducted online in September 2020 to a nationally representative sample of adults throughout Japan. We investigated the public's understanding of the guideline. In addition, we asked their experience with healthcare use and testing if they had noticed new-onset cold-like symptoms. RESULTS Of 2,137 people surveyed, 1,698 (79.5%) recognized the guidelines, but 422 people (19.7%) misunderstood. There were 144 (6.7% of 2,137 people) who developed cold-like symptoms, and many of them experienced difficulties in getting through telephone calls to a public health center, and 25 (17% of 144 people) visited healthcare institutions. Of these 25 symptomatic patients, 15 (60%) could not receive testing because of decisions by physicians (14 patients) or a local public health center (1 patient). CONCLUSION There was a low use of healthcare and testing among symptomatic patients during the first wave of the pandemic in Japan. Testing capacity should be increased to provide effective care for patients with suspected COVID-19 in Japan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masaru Kurihara
- Department of Hospital MedicineUrasoe General HospitalOkinawaJapan
| | - Kazuhiro Kamata
- Department of General Internal MedicineAizu Medical CenterFukushima Medical UniversityFukushimaJapan
| | - Shun Nakahara
- Department of Hospital MedicineUrasoe General HospitalOkinawaJapan
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Gornyk D, Harries M, Glöckner S, Strengert M, Kerrinnes T, Heise JK, Maaß H, Ortmann J, Kessel B, Kemmling Y, Lange B, Krause G. SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence in Germany. DEUTSCHES ARZTEBLATT INTERNATIONAL 2021; 118:824-831. [PMID: 35191825 DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.m2021.0364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2021] [Revised: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 10/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Until now, information on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Germany has been based mainly on data from the public health offices. It may be assumed that these data do not include many cases of asymptomatic and mild infection. METHODS We determined seroprevalence over the course of the pandemic in a sequential, multilocal seroprevalence study (MuSPAD). Study participants were recruited at random in seven administrative districts (Kreise) in Germany from July 2020 onward; each participant was tested at two different times 3-5 months apart. Test findings on blood samples were used to determine the missed-case rate of reported infections, the infection fatality rate (IFR), and the association between seropositivity and demographic, socio-economic, and health-related factors, as well as to evaluate the self-reported results of PCR and antigenic tests. The registration number of this study is DRKS00022335. RESULTS Among non-vaccinated persons, the seroprevalence from July to December 2020 was 1.3-2.8% and rose between February and May 2021 to 4.1-13.1%. In July 2021, 35% of tested persons in Chemnitz were not vaccinated, and the seroprevalence among these persons was 32.4% (07/2021). The surveillance detection ratio (SDR), i.e., the ratio between the true number of infections estimated from seroprevalence and the actual number or reported infections, varied among the districts included in the study from 2.2 to 5.1 up to December 2020 and from 1.3 to 2.9 up to June 2021, and subsequently declined. The IFR was in the range of 0.8% to 2.4% in all regions except Magdeburg, where a value of 0.3% was calculated for November 2020. A lower educational level was associated with a higher seropositivity rate, smoking with a lower seropositivity rate. On average, 1 person was infected for every 8.5 persons in quarantine. CONCLUSION Seroprevalence was low after the first wave of the pandemic but rose markedly during the second and third waves. The missed-case rate trended downward over the course of the pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Gornyk
- Department of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig; RNA Biology of Bacterial Infections, Helmholtz Institute for RNA-Based Infection Research, Würzburg; TI Bioresources, Biodata, and Digital Health (TI BBD), German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Braunschweig; TWINCORE, Center for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, Hanover
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Rossello NB, Pezzutto M, Schenato L, Castagliuolo I, Garone E. On the effect of the number of tests and their time of application in tracing policies against COVID-19. IFAC-PAPERSONLINE 2021; 54:157-162. [PMID: 38620658 PMCID: PMC8562127 DOI: 10.1016/j.ifacol.2021.10.248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
In this paper we explore the effect of the number of daily tests on an epidemics control policy purely based on testing and selective quarantine, and the impact of these actions depending on the time their application starts. We introduce a general model incorporating a stochastic disease evolution, a particular weighted graph representing the population, and an optimal contact tracing strategy to allocate available tests. Simulations on a community of 50'000 individuals show that the evolution of the epidemic produces a clear non-linear response to the variation of the number of tests used and to the starting time of their application. These results suggest that not only a minimum number of tests is necessary to obtain a positive outcome from the tracing strategy but also that there exists a saturation on the contribution of additional tests. The results also show that the timing in the application of the measures is as important as the measures themselves and that an excessive delay can be hardly overcome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Bono Rossello
- Service d'Automatique et d'Analyse des Systèmes: Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 1050 - Brussels, Belgium
| | - Matthias Pezzutto
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Luca Schenato
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | | | - Emanuele Garone
- Service d'Automatique et d'Analyse des Systèmes: Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 1050 - Brussels, Belgium
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Zu J, Shen M, Fairley CK, Li M, Li G, Rong L, Xiao Y, Zhuang G, Zhang L, Li Y. Investigating the relationship between reopening the economy and implementing control measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Public Health 2021; 200:15-21. [PMID: 34653737 PMCID: PMC8433041 DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2021.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2021] [Revised: 07/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Objectives The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an enormous burden on population health and the economy around the world. Although most cities in the United States have reopened their economies from previous lockdowns, it was not clear how the magnitude of different control measures—such as face mask use and social distancing—may affect the timing of reopening the economy for a local region. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between reopening dates and control measures and identify the conditions under which a city can be reopened safely. Study design This was a mathematical modeling study. Methods We developed a dynamic compartment model to capture the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 in New York City. We estimated model parameters from local COVID-19 data. We conducted three sets of policy simulations to investigate how different reopening dates and magnitudes of control measures would affect the COVID-19 epidemic. Results The model estimated that maintaining social contact at 80% of the prepandemic level and a 50% face mask usage would prevent a major surge of COVID-19 after reopening. If social distancing were completely relaxed after reopening, face mask usage would need to be maintained at nearly 80% to prevent a major surge. Conclusions Adherence to social distancing and increased face mask usage are keys to prevent a major surge after a city reopens its economy. The findings from our study can help policymakers identify the conditions under which a city can be reopened safely.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian Zu
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Mingwang Shen
- China-Australia Joint Research Center for Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Christopher K Fairley
- China-Australia Joint Research Center for Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China; Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Australia; Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Miaolei Li
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Guoqiang Li
- China-Australia Joint Research Center for Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Libin Rong
- Department of Mathematics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Yanni Xiao
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Guihua Zhuang
- China-Australia Joint Research Center for Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Lei Zhang
- China-Australia Joint Research Center for Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China; Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Australia; Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
| | - Yan Li
- Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology, and Reproductive Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
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Hong P, Herigon JC, Uptegraft C, Samuel B, Brown DL, Bickel J, Hron JD. Use of clinical data to augment healthcare worker contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2021; 29:142-148. [PMID: 34623426 DOI: 10.1093/jamia/ocab231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2021] [Revised: 09/28/2021] [Accepted: 10/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This work examined the secondary use of clinical data from the electronic health record (EHR) for screening our healthcare worker (HCW) population for potential exposures to patients with coronavirus disease 2019. MATERIALS AND METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study at a free-standing, quaternary care pediatric hospital comparing first-degree, patient-HCW pairs identified by the hospital's COVID-19 contact tracing team (CTT) to those identified using EHR clinical event data (EHR Report). The primary outcome was the number of patient-HCW pairs detected by each process. RESULTS Among 233 patients with COVID-19, our EHR Report identified 4,116 patient-HCW pairs, including 2,365 (30.0%) of the 7,890 pairs detected by the CTT. The EHR Report also revealed 1,751 pairs not identified by the CTT. The highest number of patient-HCW pairs per patient was detected in the inpatient care venue. Nurses comprised the most frequently identified HCW role overall. CONCLUSION Automated methods to screen HCWs for potential exposure to patients with COVID-19 using clinical event data from the EHR are likely to improve epidemiologic surveillance by contact tracing programs and represent a viable and readily available strategy which should be considered by other institutions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Hong
- Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Joshua C Herigon
- Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, USA, Kansas City, Missouri
| | - Colby Uptegraft
- Health Informatics Branch, Defense Health Agency, Falls Church, Virginia, USA
| | - Bassem Samuel
- Information Services Department, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - D Levin Brown
- Information Services Department, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jonathan Bickel
- Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Information Services Department, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Computational Health Informatics Program, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jonathan D Hron
- Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Madoery PG, Detke R, Blanco L, Comerci S, Fraire J, Gonzalez Montoro A, Bellassai JC, Britos G, Ojeda S, Finochietto JM. Feature selection for proximity estimation in COVID-19 contact tracing apps based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). PERVASIVE AND MOBILE COMPUTING 2021; 77:101474. [PMID: 34602920 PMCID: PMC8475095 DOI: 10.1016/j.pmcj.2021.101474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2020] [Revised: 08/28/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, contact tracing apps based on the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology found in smartphones have been deployed by multiple countries despite BLE's debatable performance for determining close contacts among users. Current solutions estimate proximity based on a single feature: the mean attenuation of the BLE signal. In this context, a new generation of these apps which better exploits data from the BLE signal and other sensors available on phones can be fostered. Collected data can be used to extract multiple features that feed machine learning models which can potentially improve the accuracy of today's solutions. In this work, we consider the use of machine learning models to evaluate different feature sets that can be extracted from the received BLE signal, and assess the performance gain as more features are introduced in these models. Since indoor conditions have a strong impact in assessing the risk of being exposed to the SARS-CoV-2, we analyze the environment (indoor or outdoor) role in these models, aiming at understanding the need for apps that could increase proximity accuracy if aware of its environment. Results show that a better accuracy can be obtained in outdoor locations with respect to indoor ones, and that indoor proximity estimation can benefit more from the introduction of more features with respect to the outdoor estimation case. Accuracy can be increased about 10% when multiple features are considered if the device is aware of its environment, reaching a performance of up to 83% in indoor spaces and up to 91% in outdoor ones. These results encourage future contact tracing apps to integrate this awareness not only to better assess the associated risk of a given environment but also to improve the proximity accuracy for detecting close contacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo G Madoery
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Velez Sarsfield 1611, Córdoba, Argentina
- Instituto de Estudios Avanzados en Ingeniería y Tecnología (IDIT) - CONICET, Av. Velez Sarsfield 1611, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Ramiro Detke
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Velez Sarsfield 1611, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Lucas Blanco
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Velez Sarsfield 1611, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Sandro Comerci
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Velez Sarsfield 1611, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Juan Fraire
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Velez Sarsfield 1611, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Aldana Gonzalez Montoro
- Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Medina Allende 2144, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Juan Carlos Bellassai
- Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Medina Allende 2144, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Grisel Britos
- Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Medina Allende 2144, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Silvia Ojeda
- Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Medina Allende 2144, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Jorge M Finochietto
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Velez Sarsfield 1611, Córdoba, Argentina
- Instituto de Estudios Avanzados en Ingeniería y Tecnología (IDIT) - CONICET, Av. Velez Sarsfield 1611, Córdoba, Argentina
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Han T, Ryu B, Lee S, Song Y, Jeong Y, Kim I, Kim J, Kim E, Lee W, Lee H, Hwang H. Management following the first confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 in a domestic cat associated with a massive outbreak in South Korea. One Health 2021; 13:100328. [PMID: 34549077 PMCID: PMC8445762 DOI: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2021.100328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2021] [Revised: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives We analyzed how the virus spreads to local communities, based on the results of an epidemiological investigation of a religious facility in which a large group of patients was infected. Furthermore, we report for the first time in South Korea that a domestic cat was infected with SARS-CoV-2. Methods An epidemiological investigation was conducted to investigate the group outbreak. In addition, to verify cat-cat or cat-human transmission, we monitored whether exposed cats or humans were infected. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the viral full-length genome test was conducted on the positive samples from both owners and the cats. Results Total number of SARS-CoV-2 cases rose from 78 individuals, who visited a religious facility who were involved in 42 transmitted cases in the community, either through close contact with household members (47.62%) or through a group outbreak (16.67%). We observed an infected cat as well as individuals to which they were exposed. However, neither-further-cat to cat nor cat to human transmission occurred. Conclusions COVID-19 can be transmitted from humans to animals under certain conditions. Therefore, monitoring and studying the transmission of COVID-19, a novel infectious disease, between humans and animals is necessary through the One Health approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taewon Han
- Public Health Center, Jinju City, Republic of Korea
- Corresponding author at: Public Health Center, 2026, Worasan ro, Jinju-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, Jinju City 52732, Republic of Korea.
| | - Boyeong Ryu
- Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, Republic of Korea
| | - Suyeon Lee
- Public Health Center, Jinju City, Republic of Korea
| | | | | | - Ilhwan Kim
- Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, Republic of Korea
| | - Jeongmin Kim
- Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, Republic of Korea
| | - Eunjin Kim
- Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, Republic of Korea
| | - Wonjun Lee
- Gyeongnam Provincial Government, Changwon, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyunju Lee
- Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, Republic of Korea
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