SARS-CoV-2 in schools: genome analysis shows that concurrent cases in the second and third wave were often unconnected
Authors: Stange Madlen , Wuerfel Eva , Peter Jelissa Katharina , Seth-Smith Helena , Roloff Tim , Gsponer Severin , Mari Alfredo , Gil Blanca Cabrera , Lebrand Aitana , Wegner Fanny , Heininger Ulrich , Bielicki Julia , Sutter Sarah Tschudin , Stadler Tanja , Leuzinger Karoline , Hirsch Hans H. , Ledergerber Markus , Fuchs Simon , Egli Adrian 
Published: January 2022

Background

The risk of SARS-CoV-2 (SCoV2) infection in schools and student households is typically assessed using classical epidemiology whereby transmission is based on time of symptom onset and contact tracing data. Using such methodologies may be imprecise regarding transmission events of different, simultaneous SCoV2 variants spreading with different rates and directions in a given population. We analysed with high resolution the transmission among different communities, social networks, and educational institutions and the extent of outbreaks using whole genome sequencing (WGS).

Methods and Findings

We combined WGS and contact tracing spanning two pandemic waves from October 2020 to May 2021 in the Canton of Basel-City, Switzerland and performed an in-depth analysis of 235 cases relating to 22 educational institutions. We describe the caseload in educational institutions and the public health measures taken and delineate the WGS-supported outbreak surveillance.

During the study period, 1,573 of 24,557 (6.4%) children and 410 of 3,726 (11%) staff members from educational institutions were reported SCoV2 positive. Thereof, WGS data from 83 children, 35 adult staff in 22 educational institutions and their 117 contacts (social network, families) was available and analysed. 353 contextual sequences from residents of the Canton of Basel-City sequenced through surveillance were identified to be related to cases in the educational institutions. In total, we identified 55 clusters and found that coinciding SCoV2-cases in individual educational institutions were mostly introduced from different sources such as social networks or the larger community. More transmission chains started in the community and were brought into the educational institutions than vice versa (31 vs. 13). Adolescents (12-19 years old) had the highest case prevalence over both waves compared to younger children or adults, especially for the emerging Alpha variant.

Conclusions

Introduction of SCoV2 into schools accounts for most events and reflects transmission closely related to social activity, whereby teenagers and young adults contribute to significant parallel activity. Combining WGS with contact tracing is pivotal to properly inform authorities about SCoV2 infection clusters and transmission directions in educational settings and the effectiveness of enacted public health measures. The gathered data showing more clusters to seed in the community than vice versa as well as few subsequent in-school transmissions indicate that the agilely employed health measures for educational institutions helped to prevent outbreaks among staff and children.

The clinical trial accession number is NCT04351503 (clinicaltrials.gov).