The role of airborne transmission in a large single source outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in a Belgian nursing home in 2020.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To better understand the conditions which have led to one of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks in Belgian nursing homes in 2020.

Setting

A nursing home in Flanders, Belgium, which experienced a massive outbreak of COVID-19 after a cultural event. An external volunteer who dressed as a legendary figure visited consecutively the 4 living units on December, 4th and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 the next day. Within days, residents started to display symptoms and the outbreak spread rapidly within the nursing home.

Methods

We interviewed key informants and collected standardized data from all residents retrospectively. A batch of 115 positive samples with a Ct value of < 37 by qRT-PCR were analyzed using whole-genome sequencing. Six months after the outbreak, ven

SUBMITTER: Vuylsteke B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9162781 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature