Learnings from the Australian first few X household transmission project for COVID-19
Summary: Background: First Few “X” (FFX) studies provide a platform to collect the required epidemiological, clinical and virological data to help address emerging information needs about the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We adapted the WHO FFX protocol for COVID-19 to understand severity and househo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-11-01
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| Series: | The Lancet Regional Health. Western Pacific |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666606522001882 |
| _version_ | 1811275899982577664 |
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| author | Adrian J. Marcato Andrew J. Black Camelia R. Walker Dylan Morris Niamh Meagher David J. Price Jodie McVernon |
| author_facet | Adrian J. Marcato Andrew J. Black Camelia R. Walker Dylan Morris Niamh Meagher David J. Price Jodie McVernon |
| author_sort | Adrian J. Marcato |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summary: Background: First Few “X” (FFX) studies provide a platform to collect the required epidemiological, clinical and virological data to help address emerging information needs about the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We adapted the WHO FFX protocol for COVID-19 to understand severity and household transmission dynamics in the early stages of the pandemic in Australia. Implementation strategies were developed for participating sites; all household members were followed for 14 days from case identification. Household contacts completed symptom diaries and had multiple respiratory swabs taken irrespective of symptoms. We modelled the spread of COVID-19 within households using a susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered-type model, and calculated the household secondary attack rate and key epidemiological parameters. Findings: 96 households with 101 cases and 286 household contacts were recruited into the study between April–October 2020. Forty household contacts tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the study follow-up period. Our model estimated the household secondary attack rate to be 15% (95% CI 8–25%), which scaled up with increasing household size. Our findings suggest children were less infectious than their adult counterparts but were also more susceptible to infection. Interpretation: Our study provides important baseline data characterising the transmission of early SARS-CoV-2 strains from children and adults in Australia, against which properties of variants of concern can be benchmarked. We encountered many challenges with respect to logistics, ethics, governance and data management. Continued efforts to invest in preparedness research will help to test, refine and further develop Australian FFX study protocols in advance of future outbreaks. Funding: Australian Government Department of Health. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T23:47:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-77e02383a1354be1b12526cf45931b26 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-6065 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T23:47:09Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Lancet Regional Health. Western Pacific |
| spelling | doaj.art-77e02383a1354be1b12526cf45931b262022-12-22T03:11:51ZengElsevierThe Lancet Regional Health. Western Pacific2666-60652022-11-0128100573Learnings from the Australian first few X household transmission project for COVID-19Adrian J. Marcato0Andrew J. Black1Camelia R. Walker2Dylan Morris3Niamh Meagher4David J. Price5Jodie McVernon6Department of Infectious Diseases, The University of Melbourne, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, AustraliaSchool of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, AustraliaSchool of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia; School of Mathematics & Statistics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, AustraliaSchool of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, AustraliaDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The University of Melbourne, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Australia; Centre for Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population & Global Health, The University of MelbourneDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The University of Melbourne, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Australia; Centre for Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population & Global Health, The University of MelbourneDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The University of Melbourne, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Australia; Centre for Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population & Global Health, The University of Melbourne; Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; Corresponding author at: Department of Infectious Diseases, The University of Melbourne, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Australia.Summary: Background: First Few “X” (FFX) studies provide a platform to collect the required epidemiological, clinical and virological data to help address emerging information needs about the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We adapted the WHO FFX protocol for COVID-19 to understand severity and household transmission dynamics in the early stages of the pandemic in Australia. Implementation strategies were developed for participating sites; all household members were followed for 14 days from case identification. Household contacts completed symptom diaries and had multiple respiratory swabs taken irrespective of symptoms. We modelled the spread of COVID-19 within households using a susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered-type model, and calculated the household secondary attack rate and key epidemiological parameters. Findings: 96 households with 101 cases and 286 household contacts were recruited into the study between April–October 2020. Forty household contacts tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the study follow-up period. Our model estimated the household secondary attack rate to be 15% (95% CI 8–25%), which scaled up with increasing household size. Our findings suggest children were less infectious than their adult counterparts but were also more susceptible to infection. Interpretation: Our study provides important baseline data characterising the transmission of early SARS-CoV-2 strains from children and adults in Australia, against which properties of variants of concern can be benchmarked. We encountered many challenges with respect to logistics, ethics, governance and data management. Continued efforts to invest in preparedness research will help to test, refine and further develop Australian FFX study protocols in advance of future outbreaks. Funding: Australian Government Department of Health.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666606522001882COVID-19SARS-CoV-2EpidemiologyPublic healthInfectious diseaseHousehold transmission |
| spellingShingle | Adrian J. Marcato Andrew J. Black Camelia R. Walker Dylan Morris Niamh Meagher David J. Price Jodie McVernon Learnings from the Australian first few X household transmission project for COVID-19 The Lancet Regional Health. Western Pacific COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 Epidemiology Public health Infectious disease Household transmission |
| title | Learnings from the Australian first few X household transmission project for COVID-19 |
| title_full | Learnings from the Australian first few X household transmission project for COVID-19 |
| title_fullStr | Learnings from the Australian first few X household transmission project for COVID-19 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Learnings from the Australian first few X household transmission project for COVID-19 |
| title_short | Learnings from the Australian first few X household transmission project for COVID-19 |
| title_sort | learnings from the australian first few x household transmission project for covid 19 |
| topic | COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 Epidemiology Public health Infectious disease Household transmission |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666606522001882 |
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