Summer campers spread COVID at home and follow-up results

August 2, 2021-after SARS-CoV-2 spread last summer at a sleeping camp in Georgia, researchers Explained Efficient spread and high attack rate in the camp.

In the report Published online NS New England Journal of MedicineResearchers discovered that Camper had spread COVID to household members after returning home, but was more likely to be infected than others. By masking at a distance, we were able to reduce the risk.

Dr. Victoria T. Chu, MD, who has a CDC in Atlanta, Georgia, and colleagues at the Georgia Health Department and the Georgia Health Department participated in a camp of 224 people aged 7-19 years with evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Followed up. Laboratory test.

These first-episode patients (88% had symptoms) had contact with 526 households, primarily parents and siblings. Of the 377 household contacts tested, 46 (12%) were positive. Two other cases of domestic contact have been identified using clinical and epidemiological criteria.

Family in hospital

Of the 41 adult household contacts infected, 4 (about 10%) were hospitalized. Their length of stay was 5 to 11 days. None of the contacts of seven infected households under the age of 18 were hospitalized.

The four adults hospitalized were parents and grandparents between the ages of 45 and 80, Chu said. Two of the four had fundamental conditions. No household contacts died.

In a tuned analysis, campers who practiced physical distance were less likely to infect the virus at home than campers who did not practice physical distance. Analysis showed that household members who were in close or direct contact with the first-case patient were more than five times more likely to be infected than families with minimal or no contact.

“This retrospective study showed that efficient transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from school-age children and adolescents to families leads to hospitalization of adults with a secondary infection of Covid-19,” the study said. Those are writing. “In infected households, half of the household contacts were infected.”

The authors state that the secondary incidence in this report may be underestimated because the test was voluntary and participants reported the results themselves. Infected household contacts could spread the virus further, but the study did not address that question, Chu said.

In this study, investigators conducted telephone interviews with all camp participants and their parents or guardians between July 17, 2020 and August 24, 2020, and demographic and clinical features. , SARS-CoV-2 test, and precautionary measures were collected. Researchers’ analysis excluded households that became ill by household contact before or within two days of the camper’s illness.

About one-third of first-time patients began to show symptoms while still in the camp. These campers may have been less infectious by the time they returned home, compared to campers whose symptoms began after returning home.

Two-thirds of first-time patients have adopted physical distance at home. This “probably reduced the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 at home,” Chu et al. Wrote.

“Children exposed to known COVID-19 exposure quarantine “We will check for symptoms within 14 days of returning to Japan, and if the child is infected with COVID-19, take care of it with the proper combination of physical distance, isolation if possible, and mask. , Should be monitored. Used to prevent infection at home as much as possible. In addition, anyone over the age of 12 is eligible for vaccination in the United States. If eligible, with children attending the camp. The family needs to be vaccinated to protect themselves and others. vaccination It is our most effective public health prevention strategy. “

Mitigation helps

Another report on four night camps in Maine (three campers tested positive after arriving last summer) found that “aggressive mitigation strategies are effective in limiting virus transmission. There is a possibility. ” Commentary on Medscape Medical News.

Various factors, including camp vaccination rates, can affect infectious dynamics this summer, Chu said. Medscape Medical News.. The Associated Press reported in July occurrence It is tied to summer camps in several states.

“The dynamics of infection can vary from summer camp to summer camp, depending on many factors, including vaccination rates for camp participants, mitigation measures being implemented, and the number of individual referrals during the camp,” Chu said. Mr. says. “Camps with low vaccination rates for participants and no mitigation measures” can still be a great experience. Outbreak..

“The other handProper implementation of multiple mitigation measures, such as wearing masks, with the majority of vaccinated individuals, may be very effective in keeping their infection rates low, “says Chu. .. Step-by-step preventive strategies (use of masks, physical distance, and encouragement of outdoor activities where possible) are important to prevent infection. “

Child-to-adult COVID-19 transmission, which can lead to hospitalization, is not a new phenomenon, but “data on the extent of infection caused by children and adolescents in a variety of situations is still quite scarce,” Chu said. increase. “Most children are not yet eligible for vaccination and face-to-face schools will reopen this fall, so better understand the impact on home and community infections that can help guide public health recommendations. Is especially important. “