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Pool Testing as a Strategy for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Outbreaks in Schools: Protocol for a Feasibility Study

BACKGROUND: School closures are a widely implemented strategy for limiting infection spread in the current COVID-19 pandemic. The negative impact of school closures on children and young people is increasingly apparent, however. OBJECTIVE: We aim to evaluate the feasibility of an infection monitorin...

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Autores principales: Sweeney-Reed, Catherine M, Wolff, Doreen, Niggel, Jakob, Kabesch, Michael, Apfelbacher, Christian
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8166266/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33979297
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/28673
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author Sweeney-Reed, Catherine M
Wolff, Doreen
Niggel, Jakob
Kabesch, Michael
Apfelbacher, Christian
author_facet Sweeney-Reed, Catherine M
Wolff, Doreen
Niggel, Jakob
Kabesch, Michael
Apfelbacher, Christian
author_sort Sweeney-Reed, Catherine M
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: School closures are a widely implemented strategy for limiting infection spread in the current COVID-19 pandemic. The negative impact of school closures on children and young people is increasingly apparent, however. OBJECTIVE: We aim to evaluate the feasibility of an infection monitoring program in schools to enable targeted quarantining to replace school closures. The program is currently being implemented in two model schools in Magdeburg, Germany, within the framework of the Study of Coronavirus Outbreak Prevention in Magdeburg Schools (Studie zur Ausbruchsvermeidung von Corona an Magdeburger Schulen [STACAMA]). METHODS: Five pupils per class are pseudorandomly selected twice a week and asked to provide a gargle sample over a 16-week evaluation period. RNA is extracted from each sample individually in a laboratory and pooled according to school class for real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) analysis. Immediate individual sample testing will be carried out in the case of a positive pool test. Individual RNA extraction prior to pooling and application of rRT-PCR result in high test sensitivity. Testing will be performed in strict adherence to data protection standards. All participating pupils will receive a 16-digit study code, which they will be able to use to access their test RESULTS: When the study commenced on December 2, 2020, 520 (52%) pupils and their families or guardians had consented to study participation. The study was suspended after four test rounds due to renewed school closures resulting from rising regional infection incidence. Testing resumed when schools reopened on March 8, 2021, at which time consent to participation was provided for 54% of pupils. We will quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the logistics and acceptability of the program. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study should inform the design of infection surveillance programs in schools based on gargle samples and a PCR-based pool testing procedure, enabling the identification of aspects that may require adaptation before large-scale implementation. Our focus on each step of the logistics and on the experiences of families should enable a robust assessment of the feasibility of such an approach. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/28673
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spelling pubmed-81662662021-06-11 Pool Testing as a Strategy for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Outbreaks in Schools: Protocol for a Feasibility Study Sweeney-Reed, Catherine M Wolff, Doreen Niggel, Jakob Kabesch, Michael Apfelbacher, Christian JMIR Res Protoc Protocol BACKGROUND: School closures are a widely implemented strategy for limiting infection spread in the current COVID-19 pandemic. The negative impact of school closures on children and young people is increasingly apparent, however. OBJECTIVE: We aim to evaluate the feasibility of an infection monitoring program in schools to enable targeted quarantining to replace school closures. The program is currently being implemented in two model schools in Magdeburg, Germany, within the framework of the Study of Coronavirus Outbreak Prevention in Magdeburg Schools (Studie zur Ausbruchsvermeidung von Corona an Magdeburger Schulen [STACAMA]). METHODS: Five pupils per class are pseudorandomly selected twice a week and asked to provide a gargle sample over a 16-week evaluation period. RNA is extracted from each sample individually in a laboratory and pooled according to school class for real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) analysis. Immediate individual sample testing will be carried out in the case of a positive pool test. Individual RNA extraction prior to pooling and application of rRT-PCR result in high test sensitivity. Testing will be performed in strict adherence to data protection standards. All participating pupils will receive a 16-digit study code, which they will be able to use to access their test RESULTS: When the study commenced on December 2, 2020, 520 (52%) pupils and their families or guardians had consented to study participation. The study was suspended after four test rounds due to renewed school closures resulting from rising regional infection incidence. Testing resumed when schools reopened on March 8, 2021, at which time consent to participation was provided for 54% of pupils. We will quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the logistics and acceptability of the program. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study should inform the design of infection surveillance programs in schools based on gargle samples and a PCR-based pool testing procedure, enabling the identification of aspects that may require adaptation before large-scale implementation. Our focus on each step of the logistics and on the experiences of families should enable a robust assessment of the feasibility of such an approach. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/28673 JMIR Publications 2021-05-28 /pmc/articles/PMC8166266/ /pubmed/33979297 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/28673 Text en ©Catherine M Sweeney-Reed, Doreen Wolff, Jakob Niggel, Michael Kabesch, Christian Apfelbacher. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 28.05.2021. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Research Protocols, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://www.researchprotocols.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Protocol
Sweeney-Reed, Catherine M
Wolff, Doreen
Niggel, Jakob
Kabesch, Michael
Apfelbacher, Christian
Pool Testing as a Strategy for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Outbreaks in Schools: Protocol for a Feasibility Study
title Pool Testing as a Strategy for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Outbreaks in Schools: Protocol for a Feasibility Study
title_full Pool Testing as a Strategy for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Outbreaks in Schools: Protocol for a Feasibility Study
title_fullStr Pool Testing as a Strategy for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Outbreaks in Schools: Protocol for a Feasibility Study
title_full_unstemmed Pool Testing as a Strategy for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Outbreaks in Schools: Protocol for a Feasibility Study
title_short Pool Testing as a Strategy for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Outbreaks in Schools: Protocol for a Feasibility Study
title_sort pool testing as a strategy for prevention of sars-cov-2 outbreaks in schools: protocol for a feasibility study
topic Protocol
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8166266/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33979297
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/28673
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