SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Belgian French-Speaking Primary Schools: An Epidemiological Pilot Study

Schools have been a point of attention during the pandemic, and their closure one of the mitigating measures taken. A better understanding of the dynamics of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in elementary education is essential to advise decisionmakers. We conducted an uncontrolled non-interventional prospective study in Belgian French-speaking schools to describe the role of attending asymptomatic children and school staff in the spread of COVID-19 and to estimate the transmission to others. Each participant from selected schools was tested for SARS-CoV-2 using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Frère, Julie
Chatzis, Olga
Cremer, Kelly
Merckx, Joanna
De Keukeleire, Mathilde
Renard, Florence
Ribesse, Nathalie
Minner, Frédéric
Ruelle, Jean
Kabamba, Benoit
Rodriguez-Villalobos, Hector
Bearzatto, Bertrand
Delforge, Marie-Luce
Henin, Coralie
Bureau, Fabrice
Gillet, Laurent
Robert, Annie
Van der Linden, Dimitri
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
Verlag/Hrsg.: MDPI AG
Schlagwörter: SARS-CoV-2 / schools / children / COVID-19 / saliva testing / transmission
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28880186
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/266110

Schools have been a point of attention during the pandemic, and their closure one of the mitigating measures taken. A better understanding of the dynamics of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in elementary education is essential to advise decisionmakers. We conducted an uncontrolled non-interventional prospective study in Belgian French-speaking schools to describe the role of attending asymptomatic children and school staff in the spread of COVID-19 and to estimate the transmission to others. Each participant from selected schools was tested for SARS-CoV-2 using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis on saliva sample, on a weekly basis, during six consecutive visits. In accordance with recommendations in force at the time, symptomatic individuals were excluded from school, but per the study protocol, being that participants were blinded to PCR results, asymptomatic participants were maintained at school. Among 11 selected schools, 932 pupils and 242 school staff were included between January and May 2021. Overall, 6449 saliva samples were collected, of which 44 came back positive. Most positive samples came from isolated cases. We observed that asymptomatic positive children remaining at school did not lead to increasing numbers of cases or clusters. However, we conducted our study during a period of low prevalence in Belgium. It would be interesting to conduct the same analysis during a high prevalence period.