scholarly journals High Rate of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission due to Choir Practice in France at the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author(s):  
Nathalie CHARLOTTE

Background: There has been little focus on the individual risk of acquiring COVID-19 related to choir practice. Methods: We report the case of a high transmission rate of SARS-CoV-2 linked to an indoor choir rehearsal in France in March 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: A total of 27 participants, including 25 male singers, a conductor and an accompanist attended a choir practice on March 12, 2020. The practice was indoor and took place in a non-ventilated space of 45 m2. No choir member reported having been symptomatic for COVID-19 between March 2 and March 12.The mean age of the participants was 66.9 (range 35-86) years. 70% of the participants (19 of 27) were diagnosed with COVID-19 from 1 to 12 days after the rehearsal with a median of 5.1 days. 36% of the cases needed a hospitalization (7/19), and 21% (4/19) were admitted to an ICU. The index cases were possibly multiple. Discussion: The choir practice was planned in March 2020 at a period when the number of new cases of COVID-19 began to grow exponentially in France because SARS-CoV-2 was actively circulating. The secondary attack rate (70%) was much higher than it is described within households (10-20%) and among close contacts made outside households (0-5%). Singing might have contributed to enhance SARS-CoV-2 person-to-person transmission through emission of droplets and aerosolization in a closed non ventilated space with a relative high number of people including multiple pre-symptomatic suspected index cases. Conclusion: Indoor choir practice should be suspended during SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks. Further studies are necessary to test the spread of the virus by the act of singing. As the benefits of the barrier measures and social distancing are known to be effective in terms of a reduction in the incidence of the COVID-19, experts recommendations concerning the resuming of choir practice are necessary.

Genetics ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-512
Author(s):  
Uzi Nur

ABSTRACT About 10-15% of the males and females of the grasshopper Melanoplus femur-rubrum collected near Rochester, New York, possessed a supernumerary B chromosome. The frequency of the B chromosome remained fairly constant during the years 1971-1974. The B chromosome was shown previously to be transmitted at a rate of about 0.5 and 0.8 by 1B males and females, respectively. This study was designed to determine the forces preventing the B chromosome from increasing in frequency due to the high rate of transmission by the females. Eighty inseminated females collected in the wild were analyzed cytologically together with their embryos (10-20 per female). Ten of the 80 females had a B chromosome, and they transmitted it at a rate of about 0.75. Among the 983 embryos analyzed, 0.141 had one B, 0.007 had two, and the mean number of B chromosomes per embryo was 0.155. The frequency of the B chromosome in the sperm pool (0.061) was consistent with a 0.5 rate of transmission. Individuals with two B chromosomes apparently have low viability, because about six were expected, but none was found among 851 adult males and females examined. The data suggest that the viability of the 1B individuals was only about 0.86 that of the OB individuals. There was no evidence that the B chromosome increased the fecundity of either the 1B males or females. It was concluded, therefore, that the B chromosome reduced the fitness of all the individuals carrying it and was thus "parasitic," and that it was maintained in the population only because of its high transmission rate. The maintenance of other B chromosomes with high transmission rates is reviewed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 1920
Author(s):  
Ganesh R. Jagadale ◽  
Muralidhar P. Tambe ◽  
Yallapa Jadhav ◽  
Pradip S. Borle ◽  
Malangori A. Parande ◽  
...  

Background: The COVID-19 was the emerging disease caused by SARS-COV2. Efficient transmission of this disease occurs through droplets and fomites. The susceptibility of children to coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) and transmission of COVID-19 from children to others is a relatively unexplored area. The aim of this study was to understand the transmission dynamics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in children. Study objectives were to estimate secondary attack rate of COVID-19 from paediatric index case during the early phase of pandemic in Pune city and to identify factors associated with transmission and development of the COVID-19 disease.Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted in the month of June 2020. The sample includes 58 contacts of 11 laboratory confirmed pediatric index cases of COVID-19 from Pune municipal corporation after written informed consent. A confidential telephonic interview of parents was taken by using a prestructured questionnaire which includes socio-demographic data, family background, type of house, development of symptoms, outcome etc.Results: The mean age of primary pediatric case was 12.7±5.1 years. All of them were symptomatic. The SAR estimated was 55.2%. The factors significantly affecting SAR were comorbidity, no. of family members, type of family, overcrowding, no. of rooms, bedroom attached with toilet.Conclusions: The household SAR from paediatric patients is high and is closely associated with family size and other household characteristics. Hence, home quarantine should be advocated in smaller families with appropriate isolation facilities; more emphasis is given to co-morbid individuals.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abu Shadat M Noman ◽  
Mohammed Rezaul Karim ◽  
ASM Zahed ◽  
ATM Rezaul Karim ◽  
Syed S Islam

Abstract Background: Transmission risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to close contacts and at different exposure settings are yet to be fully understood for the evaluation of effective control measures. Methods: We traced 1171 close contact cases who were linked to 291 index cases between July 3, 2020 and September 3, 2020. Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of all index cases, close contacts, and secondary contact cases were collected and analyzed the secondary attack rate and risk of transmission at different exposure settings. Results: Median age of 291 index cases were 43.0 years (range 18.5-82.3) including 213 male and 78 females. Among all 1171 close contact cases, 39(3.3%) cases were identified as secondary infected cases. Among 39 secondary cases, 33(84.62%) cases were symptomatic and 3 (7.69%) cases were asymptomatic. Of the 33 symptomatic cases, 31(86.1%) male and 5(13.9%) female. Of these 36 symptomatic cases, 24(66.7%) cases between age 20-59 and remaining 12(33.3%) cases were age 60 and over. Of the 36 symptomatic cases, 11(30.6%) cases were identified as severe, 19(52.8%) as moderate and 6(16.7%) as mild. The overall secondary clinical attack rate was 3.07% (95% CI 2.49-3.64). The attack rate was higher among those aged between 50 to 69 years and shows higher risk of transmission than age below 50 years. The attack rate was higher among household contact (6.17%(95%CI 4.7-7.6; risk ratio 2.44[95%CI1.5-3.4]), and lower in hospital facility (2.29%,95%CI0.58-3.40; [risk ratio 0.91,95%CI 0.17-1.9]), funeral ceremony (2.53%,95%CI 0.32-4.73), work places (3.95%,95% CI2.5-5.42 [risk ratio 1.56,95%CI 0.63-2.5]), family contacts (3.87%,95%CI 2.4-5.3; risk ratio 1.53,95%CI 0.61-2.45]). Conclusions: Among all exposure settings analyzed, household contact exposure setting remained the highest transmission probability and risk of transmission of COVID-19 with the increase of age and disease severity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (31) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brechje de Gier ◽  
Stijn Andeweg ◽  
Rosa Joosten ◽  
Ronald ter Schegget ◽  
Naomi Smorenburg ◽  
...  

Several studies report high effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe disease, however an important knowledge gap is the vaccine effectiveness against transmission (VET). We present estimates of the VET to household and other close contacts in the Netherlands, from February to May 2021, using contact monitoring data. The secondary attack rate among household contacts was lower for fully vaccinated than unvaccinated index cases (11% vs 31%), with an adjusted VET of 71% (95% confidence interval: 63–77).


1980 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. T. Wagenvoort ◽  
M. Harmsen ◽  
Barry J. Khader Boutahar-Trouw ◽  
C. A. Kraaijeveld ◽  
K. C. Winkler

SUMMARYIn a Dutch population group neutralizing antibodies against mumps virus were determined by a plaque reduction technique, which proved reproducible, sensitive and specific. The results with sera of about 800 suburban children show that mumps is acquired at an early age with peak acquisition rates between the ages of four and six years. Over 90% have acquired mumps before the age of 14 years. More than 95% of about 1000 adults (18–05 years) have neutralizing antibodies. The relatively constant median titre suggests that antibodies persist during life.During a family study 77 clinical and 18 subclinical cases were observed. In families with index cases the attack rate was 26/37 = 0·71. Eleven children (excluding six babies) esćaped infection. The mean attack rate during the epidemic was 0·30. The mean titre of mumps neutralizing antibody is maximal during the first year after the disease but declines during childhood. Mothers exposed to mumps in the family occasionally showed a significant rise in titre. Some seronegative mothers remained seronegative after exposure.


2021 ◽  
pp. 004947552110020
Author(s):  
Balram Rathish ◽  
Arun Wilson ◽  
Sonya Joy

COVID-19 has been found to be highly infectious with a high secondary attack rate with a R0 of 3.3. However, the secondary attack rate based on risk stratification is sparsely reported, if ever. We studied the contact tracing data for two index cases of COVID-19 with some overlap of contacts. We found that 60% of high-risk contacts and 0% of low-risk contacts of symptomatic COVID-19 patients contracted the infection, in keeping with the Kerala government contact risk stratification guidelines.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 245-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Louza ◽  
Christopher Rösel ◽  
Robert Gürkov ◽  
Eike Krause ◽  
Friedrich Ihler

Background: Cochlear implantation is an important method of hearing rehabilitation. Earlier studies have shown the influence of implantation on the vestibular system. However, until now, the effect of hearing rehabilitation with cochlear implants (CI) on postural control and body stability has not been sufficiently studied. Objective: To analyse the effect of hearing rehabilitation with activated CI and different sound inputs (music, speech text, and white noise) on postural control and risk of falls after implantation. Methods: This was a prospective clinical trial that included 33 adult patients with at least 6 months’ use of a CI (mean time after implantation = 23 months). All patients underwent a standard or geriatric (for patients >60 years) balancing deficit test protocol with a mobile posturography system (VertiGuard®) in different situations (CI deactivated/activated and different sound inputs). As the main outcome measure, the risk of falls (%) after each protocol was calculated by evaluating body sway both forward to backward and side to side (°/s). Results: With the CI deactivated, the mean risk of falls was 45.5%. After activation of the CI, there was a small decrease in the mean risk of falls, but it was statistically significant. With an additional sound input (music or speech text) this decrease was more pronounced: 42.0 and 42.4%, respectively. This effect seems to be more pronounced in older patients. Regarding the individual patients, 72% had an improvement in the risk of falls with an activated CI, and 28% had a slight deterioration. An activated CI accompanied by sound input (music) further improved the individual risk of falls. Conclusions: Compared with prior research, this study found that the risk of falls after implantation decreased over a longer time period. Furthermore, the use of a CI and different sound inputs had a positive effect on postural control. These findings support the need for optimal hearing rehabilitation, especially in elderly patients. Although this effect is relatively small, it is important to consider for further studies that rehabilitation with CI may reduce the risk of falls. While the auditory system supposedly contributes to postural control only to a small degree and the mechanism is still poorly understood, further studies with bigger samples are warranted to clarify these effects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Lin Yao ◽  
Peijun Tang ◽  
Hui Jiang ◽  
Binbin Gu ◽  
Ping Xu ◽  
...  

Objectives. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emerging virus causing substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. We performed a cross-sectional investigation of SARS-CoV-2 clusters in Suzhou to determine the transmissibility of the virus among close contacts and to assess the demographic and clinical characteristics between index and secondary cases. Methods. We review the clustered patients with SARS-CoV-2 infections in Suzhou between 22 January and 29 February 2020. The demographic and clinical characteristics were compared between index and secondary cases. We calculated the basic reproduction number ( R 0 ) among close contacts with SLI model. Results. By 22 February, 87 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection were reported, including 50 sporadic and 37 clustered cases, who were generated from 13 clusters. On admission, 5 (20.8%) out of 24 secondary cases were asymptomatic. The male ratio of index cases was significantly higher than that of secondary cases. Additionally, the index cases were more likely to have fever and increased CRP levels than the secondary cases. The R 0 values of clusters displayed a significantly declining trend over time for all clusters. The relative risk of infection in blood-related contacts of cases versus unrelated contacts was 1.60 for SARS-CoV-2 (95% CI: 0.42-2.95). Conclusions. In conclusion, SARS-CoV-2 has great person-to-person transmission capability among close contacts. The secondary cases are more prone to have mild symptoms than index cases. There is no increased RR of secondary infection in blood relatives versus unrelated contacts. The high rate of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections highlights the urgent need to enhance active case finding strategy for early detection of infectious patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (11.1) ◽  
pp. 109S-115S
Author(s):  
Bakyt Dzhangaziev ◽  
Aizat Kulzhabaeva ◽  
Nune Truzyan ◽  
Abdykadyr Zhoroev ◽  
Dinagul Otorbaeva ◽  
...  

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) contact investigation as a proved approach for finding new TB cases, is not fully performed in Kyrgyzstan. In 2018, the country started aligning the National Guidelines for tracking contacts with the WHO recommendations by expanding the definition for TB index cases to all close contacts, regardless of their TB risk status. Methodology: This cross-sectional census aimed to determine the active case detection changes among TB contacts after implementation of a new TB tracing strategy using the National Surveillance data. We compared populations in Chui and Issyk-Kul regions of Kyrgyzstan who had contacts with TB index cases before (2017) and after (2018) strategic changes for the rates of indexes, contacts, screened contacts, and detected TB among screened contacts. Results: New TB tracing strategy resulted in increased numbers of indexes (21%) and contacts (36%). Though the smaller number of contacts (1730 vs. 1590) have been screened in 2018, the proportion of TB diagnosed was substantially higher (95% CI: 0.024-0.005; p = 0.002) in 2018 vs. 2017. The mean numbers of TB contacts per-one-index-case also has increased dramatically by 117% (1.8 vs. 3.9) in Chui and by 43% (3.0 vs. 4.3) in Issyk-Kul regions (95% CI: 3.20-3.37; p < 0.001 and 95% CI: 2.97-3.09; p < 0.001, respectively) between 2018 and 2017. Conclusion: Extending new tracing approach to other regions of Kyrgyzstan will increase the number of identified contacts, leading to better TB control in the country and prevention of more severe TB development among the unidentified contacts.


Author(s):  
Hao-Yuan Cheng ◽  
Shu-Wan Jian ◽  
Ding-Ping Liu ◽  
Ta-Chou Ng ◽  
Wan-Ting Huang ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundThe dynamics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmissibility after symptom onset remains unknown.MethodsWe conducted a prospective case-ascertained study on laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases and their contacts. Secondary clinical attack rate (considering symptomatic cases only) was analyzed for different exposure windows after symptom onset of index cases and for different exposure settings.ResultsThirty-two confirmed patients were enrolled and 12 paired data (index-secondary cases) were identified among the 1,043 contacts. The secondary clinical attack rate was 0.9% (95% CI 0.5–1.7%). The attack rate was higher among those whose exposure to index cases started within five days of symptom onset (2.4%, 95% CI 1.1–4.5%) than those who were exposed later (zero case from 605 close contacts, 95% CI 0–0.61%). The attack rate was also higher among household contacts (13.6%, 95% CI 4.7–29.5%) and non- household family contacts (8.5%, 95% CI 2.4–20.3%) than that in healthcare or other settings. The higher secondary clinical attack rate for contacts near symptom onset remained when the analysis was restricted to household and family contacts. There was a trend of increasing attack rate with the age of contacts (p for trend < 0.001).ConclusionsHigh transmissibility of COVID-19 near symptom onset suggests that finding and isolating symptomatic patients alone may not suffice to contain the epidemic, and more generalized social distancing measures are required. Rapid reduction of transmissibility over time implies that prolonged hospitalization of mild cases might not be necessary in large epidemics.


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