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Surge in SARS-CoV-2 transmission in school-aged children and household contacts, England, August to October 2021
- Dimple Y Chudasama1 , Elise Tessier1 , Joe Flannagan1 , David Leeman1 , Harriet Webster1 , Alicia Demirjian1,2,3 , Catherine Falconer4 , Simon Thelwall1 , Meaghan Kall1 , Vanessa Saliba5 , Mary Ramsay5 , Gavin Dabrera1 , Theresa Lamagni1
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View Affiliations Hide AffiliationsAffiliations: 1 COVID-19 Epidemiology Cell, UK Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom 2 Paediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, London, United Kingdom 3 Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom 4 Clinical & Public Health, Young People Cell, UK Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom 5 Surveillance Cell, UK Health Security Agency, London, United KingdomElise TessierElise.Tessier phe.gov.uk
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Citation style for this article: Chudasama Dimple Y, Tessier Elise, Flannagan Joe, Leeman David, Webster Harriet, Demirjian Alicia, Falconer Catherine, Thelwall Simon, Kall Meaghan, Saliba Vanessa, Ramsay Mary, Dabrera Gavin, Lamagni Theresa. Surge in SARS-CoV-2 transmission in school-aged children and household contacts, England, August to October 2021. Euro Surveill. 2021;26(48):pii=2101019. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.48.2101019 Received: 29 Oct 2021; Accepted: 02 Dec 2021
Abstract
Easing of COVID-19 restrictions in England in the summer of 2021 was followed by a sharp rise in cases among school-aged children. Weekly rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection in primary and secondary school children reached 733.3 and 1,664.7/100,000 population, respectively, by week 39 2021. A surge in household clusters with school-aged index cases was noted at the start of the school term, with secondary cases predominantly in children aged 5–15 years and adults aged 30–49 years.

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