Abstract
Objectives: Investigate risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infections in school students and staff.
Methods: In the 2020/2021 school year, we administered polymerase chain reaction, antibody tests, and questionnaires to a sample of primary and secondary school students and staff, with data linkage to COVID-19 surveillance. We fitted logistic regression models to identify the factors associated with infection.
Results: We included 6799 students and 5090 staff in the autumn and 11,952 students and 4569 staff in the spring/summer terms. Infections in students in autumn 2020 were related to the percentage of students eligible for free school meals. We found no statistical association between infection risk in primary and secondary schools and reported contact patterns between students and staff in either period in our study. Using public transports was associated with increased risk in autumn in students (adjusted odds ratio = 1.72; 95% confidence interval 1.31-2.25) and staff. One or more infections in the same household during either period was the strongest risk factor for infection in students and more so among staff.
Conclusion: Deprivation, community, and household factors were more strongly associated with infection than contacts patterns at school; this suggests that the additional school-based mitigation measures in England in 2020/2021 likely helped reduce transmission risk in schools.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 230-243 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | International Journal of Infectious Diseases |
Volume | 128 |
Early online date | 6 Jan 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information: This work was produced under the terms of a commissioning contract issued by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. SML is funded by a Wellcome Trust Senior Clinical Fellowship (205039/Z/16/Z). TGC is funded by a UK Research & Innovation Global Effort on COVID-19 Health Research award (Ref. GEC2211; MR/V036890/1). CWG is funded by a Wellcome Intermediate Clinical Fellowship (201440/Z/16/Z).Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases.
Citation: Patrick Nguipdop-Djomo, William E Oswald, Katherine E Halliday, Sarah Cook, Joanna Sturgess, Neisha Sundaram, Charlotte Warren-Gash, Paul EM Fine, Judith Glynn, Elizabeth Allen, Taane G. Clark, Benjamin Ford, Alison Judd, Georgina Ireland, John Poh, Chris Bonell, Fiona Dawe, Emma Rourke, Ian Diamond, Shamez N Ladhani, Sinéad M Langan, James Hargreaves, Punam Mangtani,
Risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in primary and secondary school students and staff in England in the 2020/2021 school year: a longitudinal study,
International Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume 128, 2023, Pages 230-243,
ISSN 1201-9712, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2022.12.030.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2022.12.030.
Keywords
- COVID-19
- England
- Epidemiology
- Risk factors
- SARS-CoV-2
- Schools