Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33947332›Full record

ArticleBMC infectious diseases2021

COVID-19: first long-term care facility outbreak in the Netherlands following cross-border introduction from Germany, March 2020.

Mitch van Hensbergen, Casper D J den Heijer, Petra Wolffs, Volker Hackert, Henriëtte L G Ter Waarbeek, Bas B Oude Munnink, Reina S Sikkema, Edou R Heddema, Christian J P A Hoebe

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 19% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) from pre and asymptomatic infected individuals: a systematic review.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2022
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Genome Sequencing in Infectious Disease Outbreaks.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Risk Factors Associated with Nursing Home COVID-19 Outbreaks: A Retrospective Cohort Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Mitch van HensbergenDepartment of Sexual Health, Infectious Diseases, and Environmental Health, South Limburg Public Health Service, PO-Box 33, 6400 AA, Heerlen, The Netherlands. mitch.vanhensbergen@ggdzl.nl.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5828-7601
Casper D J den HeijerDepartment of Sexual Health, Infectious Diseases, and Environmental Health, South Limburg Public Health Service, PO-Box 33, 6400 AA, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
Petra WolffsDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC+), PO-Box 5800, 6202 AZ, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Volker HackertDepartment of Sexual Health, Infectious Diseases, and Environmental Health, South Limburg Public Health Service, PO-Box 33, 6400 AA, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
Henriëtte L G Ter WaarbeekDepartment of Sexual Health, Infectious Diseases, and Environmental Health, South Limburg Public Health Service, PO-Box 33, 6400 AA, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
Bas B Oude MunninkDepartment of Viroscience, Erasmus MC - University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015 CN, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Reina S SikkemaDepartment of Viroscience, Erasmus MC - University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015 CN, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Edou R HeddemaDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Zuyderland Medical Center Heerlen/Sittard-Geleen, 6162 BG, Geleen, The Netherlands.
Christian J P A HoebeDepartment of Sexual Health, Infectious Diseases, and Environmental Health, South Limburg Public Health Service, PO-Box 33, 6400 AA, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
Maastricht University Medical Centre · NLErasmus MC · NLGGD Zuid Limburg · NLDepartment of Health · TWZuyderland Medisch Centrum · NL

Funding

ZonMw 10430022010001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe Dutch province of Limburg borders the German district of Heinsberg, which had a large cluster of COVID-19 cases linked to local carnival activities before any cases were reported in the Netherlands. However, Heinsberg was not included as an area reporting local or community transmission per the national case definition at the time. In early March, two residents from a long-term care facility (LTCF) in Sittard, a Dutch town located in close vicinity to the district of Heinsberg, tested positive for COVID-19. In this study we aimed to determine whether cross-border introduction of the virus took place by analysing the LTCF outbreak in Sittard, both epidemiologically and microbiologically.

methodsSurveys and semi-structured oral interviews were conducted with all present LTCF residents by health care workers during regular points of care for information on new or unusual signs and symptoms of disease. Both throat and nasopharyngeal swabs were taken from residents suspect of COVID-19, based on regional criteria, for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 by Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction. Additionally, whole genome sequencing was performed using a SARS-CoV-2 specific amplicon-based Nanopore sequencing approach. Moreover, twelve random residents were sampled for possible asymptomatic infections.

resultsOut of 99 residents, 46 got tested for COVID-19. Out of the 46 tested residents, nineteen (41%) tested positive for COVID-19, including 3 asymptomatic residents. CT-values for asymptomatic residents seemed higher compared to symptomatic residents. Eleven samples were sequenced, along with three random samples from COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the regional hospital at the time of the LTCF outbreak. All samples were linked to COVID-19 cases from the cross-border region of Heinsberg, Germany.

conclusionsSequencing combined with epidemiological data was able to virtually prove cross-border transmission at the start of the Dutch COVID-19 epidemic. Our results highlight the need for cross-border collaboration and adjustment of national policy to emerging region-specific needs along borders in order to establish coordinated implementation of infection control measures to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overCOVID-19Cross-Sectional StudiesDisease OutbreaksFemaleGermanyHealth PersonnelHumansInfection ControlLong-Term CareMaleMiddle AgedNetherlandsNursing HomesReal-Time Polymerase Chain ReactionCoronavirusCross-sectionalInfection controlNursing homeObservationalSARS-CoV-2Whole genome sequencing

Identifiers

PMID33947332
PMCPMC8094983
OpenAlexW3158377238

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.