SARS-CoV-2 transmissions in students and teachers: seroprevalence follow-up study in a German secondary school in November and December 2020.
BMJ Paediatr Open
; 5(1): e001036, 2021.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1158115
ABSTRACT
Objective:
To quantify the number of undetected SARS-CoV-2 infections in educational settings.Design:
Serial SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence study before and during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.Setting:
Secondary school in Dresden, Germany.Participants:
Grade 8-12 students and their teachers were invited to participate in serial blood sampling and SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody assessment. Main outcomemeasure:
Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in study population.Results:
247 students and 55 teachers participated in the initial study visit and 197 students and 40 teachers completed follow-up. Seroprevalence increased from 1.7% (0.3-3.3) to 6.8% (3.8-10.1) during the study period mirroring the increase of officially reported SARS-CoV-2 infections during this time. The ratio of undetected to detected SARS-CoV-2 infections ranged from 0.25 to 0.33.Conclusions:
We could not find evidence of relevant silent, asymptomatic spread of SARS-CoV-2 in schools neither in a low prevalence setting nor during the second wave of the pandemic, making it unlikely that educational settings play a crucial role in driving the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Trial registration number DRKS00022455.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
BMJ Paediatr Open
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bmjpo-2021-001036
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