U.S. health officials struggle to track coronavirus contact, according to a CDC study

Despite “aggressive” efforts to enhance contact tracking, the Department of Health is struggling to get people involved in outbreak surveys. Study published on Tuesday According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which focuses on two counties in North Carolina.

Contact tracking is the process by which trained personnel contact people who test positive for the virus and identify those who may have been infected with the virus. Health officials then inform potentially infected people and encourage them to quarantine to stop the spread of the virus.

In addition to social distance and wearing a mask, contact tracking is one of the only strategies demonstrated in containment. Coronavirus And it breaks the chain of infection before it spreads. However, tracing experts warn Tracking that contact has never been requested on the scale required by the pandemic. Experts say significant federal investment and a review of the local health sector are needed to strengthen coronavirus contact tracking efforts.

Researchers in the new study investigated a follow-up study from June 1st to July 12th in Mecklenburg and Randolph counties in North Carolina. Up to half reported no contact with anyone due to an increase in cases in both counties. Of the contacts provided to local health authorities, investigators were unable to reach between a quarter and nearly half of them.

“Despite the active efforts of health department staff to conduct case studies and contact tracking, many COVID-19 people did not report contact and did not reach many contacts,” the study said. The authors said. “The relatively low participation and cooperation in contact tracing suggests a lack of community support and lack of involvement in contact tracing, which, coupled with delayed test results, is an ongoing infection. It contributes to. “

In Mecklenburg County, one of North Carolina’s most populous counties and home to Charlotte, contact tracers surveyed 5,514 people with confirmed Covid-19 infections. Forty-eight percent of them report that they are not in close contact with anyone. Researchers said that 25% of the contacts provided to contact the tracer did not return the call from the tracer.

In the more rural Randolph county, the local health department investigated 584 people who were confirmed infected. Of those, 35% of people did not report close contact, and of the contacts provided, tracers were able to successfully contact only 52% of potentially exposed people, according to researchers. It was.

Researchers pointed out that the data found in their study are consistent with those found in other states across the country. They added that the percentage of people who could not be successfully contacted for follow-up was higher than that of contact tracking efforts for other pre-pandemic infectious diseases in the United States.

“There are several possible reasons for this. First, limiting contact tracking to telephone conversations can prevent public health professionals from establishing relationships and pulling contacts. “They wrote. “Second, the COVID-19 person may have sought to prevent contacts from undergoing quarantine control measures, including potential loss of work and associated financial consequences.”

Researchers said some people may have hesitated to answer calls from unidentified sources. They added that the increased burden of outbreaks on contact tracers may also have contributed to their performance as their studies were conducted while cases were increasing in the area. However, they added, “Failure to comply with public health recommendations may reflect various and sometimes contradictory messages about the importance of COVID-19 mitigation strategies.”

“In this assessment, the health departments of these two counties investigated the majority of index cases, but the majority of people with COVID-19 did not report their contact information, did not reach it, and did not reach it. The use of contact tracking as a mitigation strategy that appears to have mitigated the time required to notify, “the authors conclude. “These findings show that disruption of SARS-CoV-2 transmission requires improved timely contact tracking, community involvement, and increased use of community-wide mitigation. I am. “