Effectiveness of contact tracing in the control of infectious diseases: a systematic review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Contact tracing is used for multiple infectious diseases, most recently for COVID-19, but data regarding its effectiveness in disease control are scarce. To address this knowledge gap and inform public health decision making for COVID-19, we systematically reviewed the existing literature to determine the effectiveness of contact tracing in the control of communicable illness.

Methods

We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library from database inception up to Nov 22, 2021, for published studies evaluating associations between provider-initiated contact tracing for transmissible infectious diseases and one of three outcomes of interest: case detection rates among contacts or at the community level, overall forward transmission, or overall disease incidence.

SUBMITTER: Hossain AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8847088 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature