Changing genomic epidemiology of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities during the 2020-2022 pandemic, Washington State.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Long-term care facilities (LTCFs) are vulnerable to disease outbreaks. Here, we jointly analyze SARS-CoV-2 genomic and paired epidemiologic data from LTCFs and surrounding communities in Washington state (WA) to assess transmission patterns during 2020-2022, in a setting of changing policy. We describe sequencing efforts and genomic epidemiologic findings across LTCFs and perform in-depth analysis in a single county.

Methods

We assessed genomic data representativeness, built phylogenetic trees, and conducted discrete trait analysis to estimate introduction sizes over time, and explored selected outbreaks to further characterize transmission events.

Results

We found that transmission dynamics among cases associated with LTCFs in WA changed over the course of

SUBMITTER: Oltean HN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10789038 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature