SOS Nosocomial
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Secondary Attack Rate Of SARS-CoV-2 in Nosocomial Transmission
IRAS ID
297525
Contact name
Catherine Houlihan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2021/04/65 health research, Data protection registrations at UCL
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 20 days
Research summary
SARS-CoV-2 spreads easily from patient to patient within hospital wards and leads to high fatality rate in these vulnerable individuals. During the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic, there were several outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 in hospitals because patients who were unknowingly infected with SARS-CoV-2 were cared for in open bays next to those admitted for other health conditions.
The proportion of those 'exposed' to a patient who has confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection who subsequently test positive is called the Secondary Attack Rate (SAR). We propose to examine the SAR within one large teaching hospital (UCLH) using data collected for direct patient care by the UCLH Infection Control Team. We will examine factors which affect the SAR including, for example, proximinty and duration of the infected patient to the exposed patients, air changes in the room, presence or absence of symptoms in the index patient, and viral factors such as variants of concern.
The findings will provide valuable lessons learned from the control of this pandemic and inform Infection Control Policy in hospitals in the future.REC name
London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/PR/0680
Date of REC Opinion
21 Jun 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion