Molecular epidemiology of large coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) clusters before and after the implementation of routine serial testing at an academic medical center in Iowa, 2020

• Published in: Infection control and hospital epidemiology Vol. 42; no. 12; pp. 1514 - 1516
• Main Authors: Ortiz, Miguel E, Kobayashi, Takaaki, Imborek, Katherine, Alsuhaibani, Mohammed, Holley, Stephanie, Trannel, Alexandra, Marra, Alexandre R, Etienne, William, Jenn, Kyle E, Abosi, Oluchi J, Meacham, Holly, Sheeler, Lorinda, Dains, Angelique, Kukla, Mary E, McCray, Paul B, Perlman, Stanley, Ford, Bradley, Diekema, Daniel J, Wellington, Melanie, Pezzulo, Alejandro A, Salinas, Jorge L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Cambridge University Press 01-12-2021
• Subjects: Academic Medical Centers; Contact tracing; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Disease transmission; Epidemics; Epidemiology; Genetic diversity; Genomes; Hospitalization; Hospitals; Humans; Infections; Iowa; Molecular Epidemiology; Outbreaks; Patients; Phylogenetics; Research Brief; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Iowa
• ISSN: 0899-823X; 1559-6834
• DOI: 10.1017/ice.2021.301

The sample from the HCP with a household exposure belonged to clade GH and lineage B.1.582, and it was 20–21 SNPs different from other samples in the cluster. [...]this infection was not considered to be the result of in-hospital transmission. Serial SARS-CoV-2 testing is known to be effective in identifying hospital-associated COVID-19 early or detecting COVID-19 that might have been in the incubation period upon admission screening.3 In addition, when COVID-19 outbreaks occur, serial testing of patients and HCP (until no new cases are detected after 14 days), can be used to control outbreaks.7 However, data assessing the impact of serial testing on prevention or reduction of COVID-19 clusters are limited. [...]WGS is a powerful tool in hospital cluster investigations.