ABSTRACT
Background. Case and contact investigation is a mitigation strategy to understand transmission of diseases. The goal of this study is to assess COVID-19 transmission in schools that employ contact tracing. Methods. Five middle and high schools provided a list of ongoing student and staff cases and their school contacts for the 2021-22 school year. Cases were eligible for interview if they had a known positive test or were a 'presumed positive' by a practitioner. Contacts were eligible if they were identified as a close contact to a case within their school. Contacts who later became a case were eligible for a separate case interview. Trained interviewers contacted eligible individuals to offer COVID-19 resources and determine interests in participating in the study. Interested cases and contacts underwent a semi-structured interview with standardized questions. Results. From 5/2021-4/2022, 360 cases (45% during Omicron surge) and their 412 contacts were identified (Fig 1).Among the 111 cases interviewed, 75% were students, half were in grades 6-8 (Fig 2). 61% of the cases were vaccinated with their primary series. 92% were symptomatic and fatigue, cough, and headaches were the most common symptoms. Transmission from school occurred in 29% (Fig 3) and most commonly occurred in the classroom. Among the 68 contacts interviewed, 96% were students. The two most reported activities contacts participated in were band (n=9) and sports (n=22), 10 from playing basketball. Three contacts reported exposure to COVID-19 within the household and five contacts reported exposure outside the home or school. Conclusion. Case and contact investigation can be a valuable tool to assess COVID-19 transmission in schools. Almost one-third of cases reported school exposures, a greater school transmission rate than previous reported likely do to the increased transmissibility of Omicron. Assessing transmission events with this strategy alone may be limited by its reliance on self-reports. Case investigations can help schools identify potential areas to improve in limiting school-based COVID-19 transmission.
ABSTRACT
Aim The central aim is to support adolescents in their corona-related difficult transition to adulthood by increasing their problem solving and self-direction skills. By participation in the intervention, the adolescents are strengthened to perceive and use their own abilities and resources to actively navigate to help when needed. Methods A group intervention is being developed as part of the project Dazugehören BaWü. The intervention is based on the Self-Determination Theory as well as the ecological resilience definition according to Michael Ungar and thus aims at strengthening self-direction and problem-solving skills. The target group of the intervention is adolescents between the age of 15 and 27 who need support in the transition to adulthood. Results A manual, workbook, and accompanying app will be developed to implement the group intervention. The group intervention comprises 7 sessions of approximately 90 minutes each. The accompanying app is available to adolescents between group sessions to reinforce content worked on through videos, podcasts, or assignments. Discussion The group intervention will be deployed in 4 model sites in fall 2022 and evaluated for usefulness, quality, and feasibility through a pre-post survey.