Nominated Principal Applicant
Julia Orkin, Hospital for Sick Children
Principal Applicants
Aaron Campigotto, Hospital for Sick Children
Michelle Science, Hospital for Sick Children
Co-Applicants
Ari Bitnun, Hospital for Sick Children
Cindy Bruce-Barrettee, Hospital for Sick Children
Sarah Buchan, Public Health Ontario
Allison Chris, Toronto Public Health
Vinta Dubey, University of Toronto
Sloane Freeman, St. Michael’s Hospital
Peter Juni, St. Michael’s Hospital
Liane Macdonald, Public Health Ontario
Rulan Rarekh, Hospital for Sick Children
Objective
The overall project objective was to gain a better understanding of secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in school and childcare settings.
To address this goal, this research team:
- Assessed the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 transmission among exposed school and childcare cohorts.
- Examined risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 transmission from persons with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.
- Compared the secondary transmission rates depending on the variant of concern status of the index case.
The results from this study will help to better understand COVID-19 transmission in schools and help to inform health and safety measures in the event of future surges of SARS-CoV-2 activity and/or other respiratory pathogens.
This work has led to further successful grants that have been awarded to explore the use of specialized school-based testing for viral pathogens that could inform and support infectious disease and public health management for future disease surveillance and health promotion.
Budget
CoVaRR-Net is funding this research, which was first proposed to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s (CIHR) Emerging COVID-19 Research Gaps and Priorities – Variants funding call, with a $136,500 cash contribution.