1887
  1. Home
  2. Eurosurveillance
  3. Volume 28, Issue 41, 12/Oct/2023
  4. Article
Research Open Access
Like 0
Download

Abstract

Background

Contact tracing has been a key component of COVID-19 outbreak control. Backward contact tracing (BCT) aims to trace the source that infected the index case and, thereafter, the cases infected by the source. Modelling studies have suggested BCT will substantially reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission in addition to forward contact tracing.

Aim

To assess the feasibility and impact of adding BCT in practice.

Methods

We identified COVID-19 cases who were already registered in the electronic database between 19 February and 10 March 2021 for routine contact tracing at the Public Health Service (PHS) of Rotterdam-Rijnmond, the Netherlands (pop. 1.3 million). We investigated if, through a structured questionnaire by dedicated contact tracers, we could trace additional sources and cases infected by these sources. Potential sources identified by the index were approached to trace the source’s contacts. We evaluated the number of source contacts that could be additionally quarantined.

Results

Of 7,448 COVID-19 cases interviewed in the study period, 47% (n = 3,497) indicated a source that was already registered as a case in the PHS electronic database. A potential, not yet registered source was traced in 13% (n = 979). Backward contact tracing was possible in 62 of 979 cases, from whom an additional 133 potential sources were traced, and four were eligible for tracing of source contacts. Two additional contacts traced had to stay in quarantine for 1 day. No new COVID-19 cases were confirmed.

Conclusions

The addition of manual BCT to control the COVID-19 pandemic did not provide added value in our study setting.

© Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.41.2200916
2023-10-12
2024-04-27
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.41.2200916
Loading
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/eurosurveillance/28/41/eurosurv-28-41-4.html?itemId=/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.41.2200916&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. World Health Organization (WHO). WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard 2023. Geneva: WHO. [Accessed: 1 Sep 2023]. Available from: https://covid19.who.int
  2. United Nations (UN). UN/DESA Policy Brief #86: The long-term impact of COVID-19 on poverty. New York: UN; 2020. Available from: https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/publication/un-desa-policy-brief-86-the-long-term-impact-of-covid-19-on-poverty
  3. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Contact tracing for COVID-19: current evidence, options for scale-up and an assessment of resources needed. Stockholm: ECDC; 2020. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/contact-tracing-covid-19-evidence-scale-up-assessment-resources
  4. World Health Organization (WHO). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Contact tracing for responders. Geneva: WHO; 2021. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-contact-tracing-for-responders
  5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Interim guidance on developing a COVID-19 Case investigation and contact tracing plan: overview. Atlanta: CDC; 2021. Available from: https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/88623/cdc_88623_DS1.pdf
  6. Kucharski AJ, Klepac P, Conlan AJK, Kissler SM, Tang ML, Fry H, et al. Effectiveness of isolation, testing, contact tracing, and physical distancing on reducing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in different settings: a mathematical modelling study. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020;20(10):1151-60.  https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30457-6  PMID: 32559451 
  7. Small M, Tse CK, Walker DM. Super-spreaders and the rate of transmission of the SARS virus. Physica D. 2006;215(2):146-58.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physd.2006.01.021  PMID: 32287555 
  8. Wang J, Chen X, Guo Z, Zhao S, Huang Z, Zhuang Z, et al. Superspreading and heterogeneity in transmission of SARS, MERS, and COVID-19: A systematic review. Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2021;19:5039-46.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2021.08.045  PMID: 34484618 
  9. Ko YK, Furuse Y, Ninomiya K, Otani K, Akaba H, Miyahara R, et al. Secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during the first two waves in Japan: Demographic characteristics and overdispersion. Int J Infect Dis. 2022;116:365-73.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2022.01.036  PMID: 35066162 
  10. Liu Y, Eggo RM, Kucharski AJ. Secondary attack rate and superspreading events for SARS-CoV-2. Lancet. 2020;395(10227):e47.  https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30462-1  PMID: 32113505 
  11. Adam DC, Wu P, Wong JY, Lau EHY, Tsang TK, Cauchemez S, et al. Clustering and superspreading potential of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Hong Kong. Nat Med. 2020;26(11):1714-9.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-1092-0  PMID: 32943787 
  12. Toth DJA, Beams AB, Keegan LT, Zhang Y, Greene T, Orleans B, et al. High variability in transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within households and implications for control. PLoS One. 2021;16(11):e0259097.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259097  PMID: 34758042 
  13. Endo A, Abbott S, Kucharski AJ, Funk S, Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases COVID-19 Working Group. Estimating the overdispersion in COVID-19 transmission using outbreak sizes outside China. Wellcome Open Res. 2020;5:67.  https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15842.3  PMID: 32685698 
  14. Endo A, Leclerc QJ, Knight GM, Medley GF, Atkins KE, Funk S, et al. Implication of backward contact tracing in the presence of overdispersed transmission in COVID-19 outbreaks. Wellcome Open Res. 2021;5:239.  https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16344.3  PMID: 33154980 
  15. Bradshaw WJ, Alley EC, Huggins JH, Lloyd AL, Esvelt KM. Bidirectional contact tracing could dramatically improve COVID-19 control. Nat Commun. 2021;12(1):232.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20325-7  PMID: 33431829 
  16. Kojaku S, Hébert-Dufresne L, Mones E, Lehmann S, Ahn YY. The effectiveness of backward contact tracing in networks. Nat Phys. 2021;17(5):652-8.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-021-01187-2  PMID: 34367312 
  17. Fyles M, Fearon E, Overton C, Wingfield T, Medley GF, Hall I, et al. Using a household-structured branching process to analyse contact tracing in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2021;376(1829):20200267.  https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0267  PMID: 34053253 
  18. Raymenants J, Geenen C, Thibaut J, Nelissen K, Gorissen S, Andre E. Empirical evidence on the efficiency of backward contact tracing in COVID-19. Nat Commun. 2022;13(1):4750.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32531-6  PMID: 35963872 
  19. National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). COVID-19 | LCI guideline 2021. Bilthoven: RIVM. [Accessed: 17 Nov 2021]. Available from: https://lci.rivm.nl/richtlijnen/covid-19
  20. National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). COVID-19 dataset 2021. Bilthoven: RIVM. [Accessed: 17 Nov 2021]. Available from: https://data.rivm.nl/covid-19
  21. Afroogh S, Esmalian A, Mostafavi A, Akbari A, Rasoulkhani K, Esmaeili S, et al. Tracing app technology: an ethical review in the COVID-19 era and directions for post-COVID-19. Ethics Inf Technol. 2022;24(3):30.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-022-09659-6  PMID: 35915595 
  22. National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). Varianten van het coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. [Variants of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2]. Bilthoven: RIVM. [Accessed: 17 Nov 2021]. Dutch. Available from: https://www.rivm.nl/coronavirus-covid-19/virus/varianten
  23. Government of the Netherlands. Coronadashboard: Wat kunt u zelf doen - COVID-19 vaccinaties. [Corona dashboard: What you can do yourself - COVID-19 vaccinations]. The Hague: Government of the Netherlands. [Accessed: 17 Nov 2021]. Dutch. Available from: https://coronadashboard.rijksoverheid.nl/landelijk/vaccinaties
  24. Government of the Netherlands. Ontwikkelingen coronavirus in 2021. [Developments coronavirus in 2021]. The Hague: Government of the Netherlands. [Accessed: 17 Nov 2021]. Dutch. Available from: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/coronavirus-tijdlijn/2021
The value of manual backward contact tracing to control COVID-19 in practice, the Netherlands, February to March 2021: a pilot study
<p class="citation"> <span>Citation style for this article:</span> <span class="meta-value authors"> <a href="/search?value1=Timo+Louis+Boelsums&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Boelsums Timo Louis</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Inge+Anna+Theresia+van+de+Luitgaarden&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">van de Luitgaarden Inge Anna Theresia</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Jane+Whelan&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Whelan Jane</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Hanna+Poell&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Poell Hanna</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Charlotte+Maria+Hoffman&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Hoffman Charlotte Maria</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Ewout+Fanoy&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Fanoy Ewout</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Maaike+Buskermolen&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Buskermolen Maaike</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Jan+Hendrik+Richardus&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Richardus Jan Hendrik</a></span>. The value of manual backward contact tracing to control COVID-19 in practice, the Netherlands, February to March 2021: a pilot study. <a href="/content/ecdc">Euro Surveill.</a> 2023;28(41):pii=2200916. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.41.2200916" title="doi link" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.41.2200916</a> <span class="ES_Article_citation"> <span class="generated">Received</span>: 18 Nov 2022;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="generated">Accepted</span>: 20 Jun 2023 </span> </p>
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.41.2200916
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.41.2200916
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Supplementary data

Submit comment
Close
Comment moderation successfully completed
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error