The association between SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and cross-border mobility for visiting family or friends among Dutch residents of a Euregional province

BACKGROUND: Border measures were implemented in many countries as infection prevention measures to interrupt between-country COVID-19 transmission. Border closings impact border region residents, as their professional and social lives are often intertwined across national borders. We studied whether crossing borders to visit family/friends in neighbouring countries (cross-border mobility) was associated with SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Dutch Euregional residents. METHODS: SARS-CoV-2 serostatus (negative/positive) was assessed (pre-vaccination) using laboratory testing to determine previous in... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Pagen, Demi Me
Hanssen, Daniëlle At
van Loo, Inge Hm
Brinkhues, Stephanie
den Heijer, Casper Dj
Dukers-Muijrers, Nicole Htm
Hoebe, Christian Jpa
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2024
Reihe/Periodikum: Pagen , D M , Hanssen , D A , van Loo , I H , Brinkhues , S , den Heijer , C D , Dukers-Muijrers , N H & Hoebe , C J 2024 , ' The association between SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and cross-border mobility for visiting family or friends among Dutch residents of a Euregional province ' , Health Policy , vol. 143 , 105056 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2024.105056
Schlagwörter: COVID-19 / Cross-border mobility / Prevention and control / SARS-CoV-2 / Seroprevalence / Transmission control
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27439676
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/en/publications/18446be4-b010-4537-ae16-6673861b562b

BACKGROUND: Border measures were implemented in many countries as infection prevention measures to interrupt between-country COVID-19 transmission. Border closings impact border region residents, as their professional and social lives are often intertwined across national borders. We studied whether crossing borders to visit family/friends in neighbouring countries (cross-border mobility) was associated with SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Dutch Euregional residents. METHODS: SARS-CoV-2 serostatus (negative/positive) was assessed (pre-vaccination) using laboratory testing to determine previous infection. Visiting Belgian or German family/friends in February-March 2020 was questioned. The association between cross-border mobility and seroprevalence was tested using logistic regression analysis, adjusted for previously identified exposure factors. RESULTS: In 9,996 participants, 36.8 % (n = 3,677) reported cross-border family/friends. Of these, one-third (n = 1,306) visited their cross-border family/friends in February-March 2020. Multivariable analyses revealed no positive association between cross-border mobility and seropositivity, for both participants living in a border municipality (ORfamily/friends not visited=0.90 [95 % CI:0.78-1.04], ORfamily/friends visited=0.88 [95 % CI:0.73-1.05]), and for participants not living in a border municipality (ORfamily/friends not visited=0.91 [95 % CI:0.72-1.16], ORfamily/friends visited=0.62 [95 % CI:0.41-0.94]). CONCLUSIONS: This study provided no evidence of cross-border mobility as an important exposure factor for SARS-CoV-2. The results of our unique real-world study suggest that cross-border mobility did not substantially contribute to cross-border SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the Netherlands.