SARS-CoV-2 transmission in schools in Korea: nationwide cohort study
- Authors
- Choe, Young June; Park, Young-Joon; Kim, Eun-Young; Jo, Myoungyoun; Cho, Eun Young; Lee, Hyunju; Kim, Yun-Kyung; Kim, Yae-Jean; Choi, Eun Hwa
- Issue Date
- 3월-2022
- Publisher
- BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP
- Keywords
- COVID-19; child health; infectious disease medicine; paediatrics
- Citation
- ARCHIVES OF DISEASE IN CHILDHOOD, v.107, no.3, pp.e20
- Indexed
- SCIE
SCOPUS
- Journal Title
- ARCHIVES OF DISEASE IN CHILDHOOD
- Volume
- 107
- Number
- 3
- Start Page
- e20
- URI
- https://scholar.korea.ac.kr/handle/2021.sw.korea/139479
- DOI
- 10.1136/archdischild-2021-322355
- ISSN
- 0003-9888
- Abstract
- Objective There is an urgent public need to readdress the school closure strategies. We aimed to describe the epidemiology of COVID-19 in schools and school-aged children to understand their roles in transmitting SARS-CoV-2 in Korea. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting All schools in Korea Patients All school-aged children in Korea. Interventions None (observational study). Main outcome measures Incidence rate, proportion of affected schools. Results Between February and December 2020, the incidence rate was lower among school-aged children (63.2-79.8 per 100 000) compared with adults aged 19 and above (130.4 per 100 000). Household was the main route of transmission (62.3%), followed by community (21.3%) and school clusters (7.9%). Among the schools in Korea, 52% of secondary schools had COVID-19 cases, followed by 39% of primary schools and 3% of kindergartens. Conclusions We found that schools and school-aged children aged 7-18 years were not the main drivers of COVID-19 transmission. The major sources of transmission were households. What role do schools play in transmitting COVID-19? This national study from Korea finds few children caught COVID-19 in school, most acquired it from household transmission. The authors discuss whether school closures are a useful way to interrupt COVID-19 transmission.
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