Comparison of new and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant transmissibility through active contact testing. A comparative cross-sectional household seroprevalence study.

Historically SARS-CoV-2 secondary attack rates (SAR) have been based on PCR positivity on screening symptomatic contacts; this misses transmission events and identifies only symptomatic contacts who are PCR positive at the time of sampling. We used serology to detect the relative transmissibility of...

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Main Authors: Katherine M Gaskell, Natalie El Kheir, Mariyam Mirfendesky, Tommy Rampling, Michael Marks, Catherine F Houlihan, Norbert Lemonge, Hannah Bristowe, Suhail Aslam, Demetra Kyprianou, Eleni Nastouli, David Goldblatt, Katherine Fielding, David A J Moore, CONTACT team (field team)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0284372&type=printable
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author Katherine M Gaskell
Natalie El Kheir
Mariyam Mirfendesky
Tommy Rampling
Michael Marks
Catherine F Houlihan
Norbert Lemonge
Hannah Bristowe
Suhail Aslam
Demetra Kyprianou
Eleni Nastouli
David Goldblatt
Katherine Fielding
David A J Moore
CONTACT team (field team)
author_facet Katherine M Gaskell
Natalie El Kheir
Mariyam Mirfendesky
Tommy Rampling
Michael Marks
Catherine F Houlihan
Norbert Lemonge
Hannah Bristowe
Suhail Aslam
Demetra Kyprianou
Eleni Nastouli
David Goldblatt
Katherine Fielding
David A J Moore
CONTACT team (field team)
author_sort Katherine M Gaskell
collection DOAJ
description Historically SARS-CoV-2 secondary attack rates (SAR) have been based on PCR positivity on screening symptomatic contacts; this misses transmission events and identifies only symptomatic contacts who are PCR positive at the time of sampling. We used serology to detect the relative transmissibility of Alpha Variant of Concern (VOC) to non-VOC SARS-CoV-2 to calculate household secondary attack rates. We identified index patients diagnosed with Alpha and non-VOC SARS-CoV-2 across two London Hospitals between November 2020 and January 2021 during a prolonged and well adhered national lockdown. We completed a household seroprevalence survey and found that 61.8% of non-VOC exposed household contacts were seropositive compared to 82.1% of Alpha exposed household contacts. The odds of infection doubled with exposure to an index diagnosed with Alpha. There was evidence of transmission events in almost all households. Our data strongly support that estimates of SAR should include serological data to improve accuracy and understanding.
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institution OA Journals
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2023-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
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series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-4e9e55c100944e03a8a9ec21062f4eaa2025-08-20T02:22:28ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-01184e028437210.1371/journal.pone.0284372Comparison of new and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant transmissibility through active contact testing. A comparative cross-sectional household seroprevalence study.Katherine M GaskellNatalie El KheirMariyam MirfendeskyTommy RamplingMichael MarksCatherine F HoulihanNorbert LemongeHannah BristoweSuhail AslamDemetra KyprianouEleni NastouliDavid GoldblattKatherine FieldingDavid A J MooreCONTACT team (field team)Historically SARS-CoV-2 secondary attack rates (SAR) have been based on PCR positivity on screening symptomatic contacts; this misses transmission events and identifies only symptomatic contacts who are PCR positive at the time of sampling. We used serology to detect the relative transmissibility of Alpha Variant of Concern (VOC) to non-VOC SARS-CoV-2 to calculate household secondary attack rates. We identified index patients diagnosed with Alpha and non-VOC SARS-CoV-2 across two London Hospitals between November 2020 and January 2021 during a prolonged and well adhered national lockdown. We completed a household seroprevalence survey and found that 61.8% of non-VOC exposed household contacts were seropositive compared to 82.1% of Alpha exposed household contacts. The odds of infection doubled with exposure to an index diagnosed with Alpha. There was evidence of transmission events in almost all households. Our data strongly support that estimates of SAR should include serological data to improve accuracy and understanding.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0284372&type=printable
spellingShingle Katherine M Gaskell
Natalie El Kheir
Mariyam Mirfendesky
Tommy Rampling
Michael Marks
Catherine F Houlihan
Norbert Lemonge
Hannah Bristowe
Suhail Aslam
Demetra Kyprianou
Eleni Nastouli
David Goldblatt
Katherine Fielding
David A J Moore
CONTACT team (field team)
Comparison of new and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant transmissibility through active contact testing. A comparative cross-sectional household seroprevalence study.
PLoS ONE
title Comparison of new and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant transmissibility through active contact testing. A comparative cross-sectional household seroprevalence study.
title_full Comparison of new and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant transmissibility through active contact testing. A comparative cross-sectional household seroprevalence study.
title_fullStr Comparison of new and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant transmissibility through active contact testing. A comparative cross-sectional household seroprevalence study.
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of new and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant transmissibility through active contact testing. A comparative cross-sectional household seroprevalence study.
title_short Comparison of new and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant transmissibility through active contact testing. A comparative cross-sectional household seroprevalence study.
title_sort comparison of new and emerging sars cov 2 variant transmissibility through active contact testing a comparative cross sectional household seroprevalence study
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0284372&type=printable
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