Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35609706›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of infection2022

Unraveling the hurdles of a large COVID-19 epidemiological investigation by viral genomics.

Regina Sá, Joana Isidro, Vítor Borges, Sílvia Duarte, Luís Vieira, João P Gomes, Sofia Tedim, Judite Matias, Andreia Leite

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of infection, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. 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.

Regina SáPublic Health Unit of the Baixo Vouga Health Center Grouping, Regional Health Administration of the Center Portugal (ARSC), Aveiro, Portugal. Electronic address: arsa3@arscentro.min-saude.pt.
Joana IsidroBioinformatics Unit, Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Lisbon, Portugal.
Vítor BorgesBioinformatics Unit, Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Lisbon, Portugal.
Sílvia DuarteInnovation and Technology Unit, Department of Human Genetics, National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Lisbon, Portugal.
Luís VieiraInnovation and Technology Unit, Department of Human Genetics, National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Lisbon, Portugal.
João P GomesBioinformatics Unit, Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Lisbon, Portugal.
Sofia TedimDepartment of Mathematics, University of Aveiro (UA), Aveiro, Portugal.
Judite MatiasPublic Health Unit of the Baixo Vouga Health Center Grouping, Regional Health Administration of the Center Portugal (ARSC), Aveiro, Portugal.
Andreia LeiteNOVA National School of Public Health, Public Health Research Center, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal; Comprehensive Health Research Center, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

COVID-19 local outbreak response relies on subjective information to reconstruct transmission chains. We assessed the concordance between epidemiologically linked cases and viral genetic profiles, in the Baixo Vouga Region (Portugal), from March to June 2020. A total of 1925 COVID-19 cases were identified, with 1143 being assigned to 154 epiclusters. Viral genomic data was available for 128 cases. Public health authorities identified two large epiclusters (280 and 101 cases each) with a central role on the spread of the disease. Still, the genomic data revealed that each epicluster included two distinct SARS-CoV-2 genetic profiles and thus more than one transmission network. We were able to show that the initial transmission dynamics reconstruction was most likely accurate, but the increasing dimension of the epiclusters and its extension to densely populated settings (healthcare and nursing home settings) triggered the misidentification of links. Genomics was also key to resolve some sporadic cases and misidentified direction of transmission. The epidemiological investigation showed a sensitivity of 70%-86% to detect transmission chains. This study contributes to the understanding of the hurdles and caveats associated with the epidemiological investigation of hundreds of community cases in the context of a massive outbreak caused by a highly transmissible and new respiratory virus.

Indexed as

COVID-19Disease OutbreaksGenome, ViralGenomicsHumansSARS-CoV-2Disease outbreaksEpidemicsGenomicsPublic healthSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID35609706
PMCPMC9123803

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
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.