Quantifying pupil-to-pupil SARS-CoV-2 transmission and the impact of lateral flow testing in English secondary schools

• Published in: Nature communications 2022-03, Vol.13 (1), p.1106-1106, Article 1106
• Main Authors: Leng, Trystan, Hill, Edward M., Holmes, Alex, Southall, Emma, Thompson, Robin N., Tildesley, Michael J., Keeling, Matt J., Dyson, Louise
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/114/2397; 692/699/255/2514; Adolescent; Child; Contact Tracing; COVID-19; COVID-19 - transmission; COVID-19 Testing; Disease control; Disease Outbreaks; England; Epidemiological Models; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; multidisciplinary; SARS-CoV-2; Schools; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Secondary schools; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Viral diseases
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28731-9

A range of measures have been implemented to control within-school SARS-CoV-2 transmission in England, including the self-isolation of close contacts and twice weekly mass testing of secondary school pupils using lateral flow device tests (LFTs). Despite reducing transmission, isolating close contacts can lead to high levels of absences, negatively impacting pupils. To quantify pupil-to-pupil SARS-CoV-2 transmission and the impact of implemented control measures, we fit a stochastic individual-based model of secondary school infection to both swab testing data and secondary school absences data from England, and then simulate outbreaks from 31st August 2020 until 23rd May 2021. We find that the pupil-to-pupil reproduction number, R s c h o o l , has remained below 1 on average across the study period, and that twice weekly mass testing using LFTs has helped to control pupil-to-pupil transmission. We also explore the potential benefits of alternative containment strategies, finding that a strategy of repeat testing of close contacts rather than isolation, alongside mass testing, substantially reduces absences with only a marginal increase in pupil-to-pupil transmission. Twice weekly mass testing using lateral flow tests has helped to control pupil-to-pupil transmission in English secondary schools. Here, the authors show that repeat testing of contacts alongside mass testing could greatly reduce absences with only a marginal increase in transmission, compared to isolating contacts.