Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) on prisons, England

Amoolya Vusirikala; Joe Flannagan; Maciej Czachorowski; Asad Zaidi; Kate A. Twohig; Emma Plugge; Nicholas Ellaby; Wendy Rice; Gavin Dabrera; Dimple Y. Chudasama; Theresa Lamagni

doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2021.12.018

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) on prisons, England

Amoolya Vusirikala^*
, Joe Flannagan
, Maciej Czachorowski
, Asad Zaidi
, Kate A. Twohig
, Emma Plugge
, Nicholas Ellaby
, Wendy Rice
, Gavin Dabrera
, Dimple Y. Chudasama
, Theresa Lamagni

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: Prisons are high-risk settings for infectious disease outbreaks because of their highly dynamic and crowded nature. During late 2020, prisons in England observed a surge in COVID-19 infection. This study describes the emergence of the Alpha variant in prisons during this period.

Methods: Alpha and non-Alpha variant COVID-19 cases were identified in prisoners in England using address-matched laboratory notifications and genomic information from COG-UK.

Results: Of 14,094 COVID-19-positive prisoner cases between 1 October 2020 and 28 March 2021, 11.5% (n = 1621) had sequencing results. Of these, 1082 (66.7%) were identified as the Alpha variant. Twenty-nine (2.7%) Alpha cases required hospitalisation compared with only five (1.0%; P = 0.02) non-Alpha cases. A total of 14 outbreaks were identified with the median attack rate higher for Alpha (17.9%, interquartile range [IQR] 3.2%–32.2%; P = 0.11) than non-Alpha outbreaks (3.5%, IQR 2.0%–10.2%).

Conclusion: Higher attack rates and increased likelihood of hospitalisations were observed for Alpha cases compared with non-Alpha. This suggests a key contribution to the rise in cases, hospitalisations and outbreaks in prisons in the second wave. With prisons prone to COVID-19 outbreaks and the potential to act as reservoirs for variants of concern, sequencing of prison-associated cases alongside whole-institution vaccination should be prioritised.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	21-24
Number of pages	4
Journal	Public Health
Volume	204
Early online date	4 Feb 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2021.12.018
Publication status	Published - Mar 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information: Routine work undertaken by UK Health Security Agency as part of public health response. COG-UK is supported by funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC) part of UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and Genome Research Limited, operating as the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

Open Access: Free to read, but no Open Access licence.

Publisher Copyright: Crown Copyright © 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Royal Society for Public Health. All Rights Reserved.

Citation: Vusirikala, Amoolya, et al. "Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant (B. 1.1. 7) on prisons, England." Public Health 204 (2022): 21-24.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2021.12.018

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

COVID-19
England
Outbreaks
Prisons
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Whole-genome sequencing

Access to Document

10.1016/j.puhe.2021.12.018

Cite this

@article{1fd7d1cbb4074a89893d4cd82632a96f,

title = "Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) on prisons, England",

abstract = "Objectives: Prisons are high-risk settings for infectious disease outbreaks because of their highly dynamic and crowded nature. During late 2020, prisons in England observed a surge in COVID-19 infection. This study describes the emergence of the Alpha variant in prisons during this period. Methods: Alpha and non-Alpha variant COVID-19 cases were identified in prisoners in England using address-matched laboratory notifications and genomic information from COG-UK. Results: Of 14,094 COVID-19-positive prisoner cases between 1 October 2020 and 28 March 2021, 11.5\% (n = 1621) had sequencing results. Of these, 1082 (66.7\%) were identified as the Alpha variant. Twenty-nine (2.7\%) Alpha cases required hospitalisation compared with only five (1.0\%; P = 0.02) non-Alpha cases. A total of 14 outbreaks were identified with the median attack rate higher for Alpha (17.9\%, interquartile range [IQR] 3.2\%–32.2\%; P = 0.11) than non-Alpha outbreaks (3.5\%, IQR 2.0\%–10.2\%). Conclusion: Higher attack rates and increased likelihood of hospitalisations were observed for Alpha cases compared with non-Alpha. This suggests a key contribution to the rise in cases, hospitalisations and outbreaks in prisons in the second wave. With prisons prone to COVID-19 outbreaks and the potential to act as reservoirs for variants of concern, sequencing of prison-associated cases alongside whole-institution vaccination should be prioritised.",

keywords = "COVID-19, England, Outbreaks, Prisons, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, Whole-genome sequencing",

author = "Amoolya Vusirikala and Joe Flannagan and Maciej Czachorowski and Asad Zaidi and Twohig, \{Kate A.\} and Emma Plugge and Nicholas Ellaby and Wendy Rice and Gavin Dabrera and Chudasama, \{Dimple Y.\} and Theresa Lamagni",

note = "Funding Information: Routine work undertaken by UK Health Security Agency as part of public health response. COG-UK is supported by funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC) part of UK Research \& Innovation (UKRI), the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and Genome Research Limited, operating as the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Open Access: Free to read, but no Open Access licence. Publisher Copyright: Crown Copyright {\textcopyright} 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Royal Society for Public Health. All Rights Reserved. Citation: Vusirikala, Amoolya, et al. {"}Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant (B. 1.1. 7) on prisons, England.{"} Public Health 204 (2022): 21-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2021.12.018",

year = "2022",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1016/j.puhe.2021.12.018",

language = "English",

volume = "204",

pages = "21--24",

journal = "Public Health",

issn = "0033-3506",

publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) on prisons, England

AU - Vusirikala, Amoolya

AU - Flannagan, Joe

AU - Czachorowski, Maciej

AU - Zaidi, Asad

AU - Twohig, Kate A.

AU - Plugge, Emma

AU - Ellaby, Nicholas

AU - Rice, Wendy

AU - Dabrera, Gavin

AU - Chudasama, Dimple Y.

AU - Lamagni, Theresa

N1 - Funding Information: Routine work undertaken by UK Health Security Agency as part of public health response. COG-UK is supported by funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC) part of UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and Genome Research Limited, operating as the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Open Access: Free to read, but no Open Access licence. Publisher Copyright: Crown Copyright © 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Royal Society for Public Health. All Rights Reserved. Citation: Vusirikala, Amoolya, et al. "Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant (B. 1.1. 7) on prisons, England." Public Health 204 (2022): 21-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2021.12.018

PY - 2022/3

Y1 - 2022/3

N2 - Objectives: Prisons are high-risk settings for infectious disease outbreaks because of their highly dynamic and crowded nature. During late 2020, prisons in England observed a surge in COVID-19 infection. This study describes the emergence of the Alpha variant in prisons during this period. Methods: Alpha and non-Alpha variant COVID-19 cases were identified in prisoners in England using address-matched laboratory notifications and genomic information from COG-UK. Results: Of 14,094 COVID-19-positive prisoner cases between 1 October 2020 and 28 March 2021, 11.5% (n = 1621) had sequencing results. Of these, 1082 (66.7%) were identified as the Alpha variant. Twenty-nine (2.7%) Alpha cases required hospitalisation compared with only five (1.0%; P = 0.02) non-Alpha cases. A total of 14 outbreaks were identified with the median attack rate higher for Alpha (17.9%, interquartile range [IQR] 3.2%–32.2%; P = 0.11) than non-Alpha outbreaks (3.5%, IQR 2.0%–10.2%). Conclusion: Higher attack rates and increased likelihood of hospitalisations were observed for Alpha cases compared with non-Alpha. This suggests a key contribution to the rise in cases, hospitalisations and outbreaks in prisons in the second wave. With prisons prone to COVID-19 outbreaks and the potential to act as reservoirs for variants of concern, sequencing of prison-associated cases alongside whole-institution vaccination should be prioritised.

AB - Objectives: Prisons are high-risk settings for infectious disease outbreaks because of their highly dynamic and crowded nature. During late 2020, prisons in England observed a surge in COVID-19 infection. This study describes the emergence of the Alpha variant in prisons during this period. Methods: Alpha and non-Alpha variant COVID-19 cases were identified in prisoners in England using address-matched laboratory notifications and genomic information from COG-UK. Results: Of 14,094 COVID-19-positive prisoner cases between 1 October 2020 and 28 March 2021, 11.5% (n = 1621) had sequencing results. Of these, 1082 (66.7%) were identified as the Alpha variant. Twenty-nine (2.7%) Alpha cases required hospitalisation compared with only five (1.0%; P = 0.02) non-Alpha cases. A total of 14 outbreaks were identified with the median attack rate higher for Alpha (17.9%, interquartile range [IQR] 3.2%–32.2%; P = 0.11) than non-Alpha outbreaks (3.5%, IQR 2.0%–10.2%). Conclusion: Higher attack rates and increased likelihood of hospitalisations were observed for Alpha cases compared with non-Alpha. This suggests a key contribution to the rise in cases, hospitalisations and outbreaks in prisons in the second wave. With prisons prone to COVID-19 outbreaks and the potential to act as reservoirs for variants of concern, sequencing of prison-associated cases alongside whole-institution vaccination should be prioritised.

KW - COVID-19

KW - England

KW - Outbreaks

KW - Prisons

KW - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

KW - Whole-genome sequencing

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DO - 10.1016/j.puhe.2021.12.018

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AN - SCOPUS:85124014013

SN - 0033-3506

VL - 204

SP - 21

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JO - Public Health

JF - Public Health

ER -

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) on prisons, England

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

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