Popis: |
In the summer of 2020, we investigated the rate of inapparent shedding of SARS-CoV-2 in a representative sample of day care centers from Hesse, Germany, and found a low positivity rate during a period of low local community spread.To investigate the influence of a high local incidence setting, we conducted the SAFE KiDS 2 study. 577 children and 334 staff members of 47 day care centers were tested for respiratory and gastrointestinal shedding of SARS-CoV-2, and three infections with SARS-CoV-2 in the infectious period were detected. We conclude that viral shedding occurred infrequently while the original “wild-type” variant was dominant.The more transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variant Alpha (B.1.1.7) became the dominant strain after SAFE KiDS 2 was concluded. The SAFE KiDS 3 study investigated the impact of the Alpha variant of SARS-CoV-2 on inapparent viral shedding in the day care setting. In this study, 756 children and 226 staff members from 46 day care centers provided self-collected saliva swabs, the so-called “Lollipop” swabs, which were tested by RT-PCR. In the four-week study period, none of the participants tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, demonstrating that inapparent shedding of SARS-CoV-2 in the day care setting was also rare during the dominance of the Alpha variant.The influence of the variant of concern Delta on day care centers has yet to be studied. |