[HTML][HTML] Estimation of timing of infection from longitudinal SARS-CoV-2 viral load data: mathematical modelling study
BMC Infectious Diseases, 2022•Springer
Background Multiple waves of the COVID-19 epidemic have hit most countries by the end of
2021. Most of those waves are caused by emergence and importation of new variants. To
prevent importation of new variants, combination of border control and contact tracing is
essential. However, the timing of infection inferred by interview is influenced by recall bias
and hinders the contact tracing process. Methods We propose a novel approach to infer the
timing of infection, by employing a within-host model to capture viral load dynamics after the …
2021. Most of those waves are caused by emergence and importation of new variants. To
prevent importation of new variants, combination of border control and contact tracing is
essential. However, the timing of infection inferred by interview is influenced by recall bias
and hinders the contact tracing process. Methods We propose a novel approach to infer the
timing of infection, by employing a within-host model to capture viral load dynamics after the …
Background
Multiple waves of the COVID-19 epidemic have hit most countries by the end of 2021. Most of those waves are caused by emergence and importation of new variants. To prevent importation of new variants, combination of border control and contact tracing is essential. However, the timing of infection inferred by interview is influenced by recall bias and hinders the contact tracing process.
Methods
We propose a novel approach to infer the timing of infection, by employing a within-host model to capture viral load dynamics after the onset of symptoms. We applied this approach to ascertain secondary transmission which can trigger outbreaks. As a demonstration, the 12 initial reported cases in Singapore, which were considered as imported because of their recent travel history to Wuhan, were analyzed to assess whether they are truly imported.
Results
Our approach suggested that 6 cases were infected prior to the arrival in Singapore, whereas other 6 cases might have been secondary local infection. Three among the 6 potential secondary transmission cases revealed that they had contact history to previously confirmed cases.
Conclusions
Contact trace combined with our approach using viral load data could be the key to mitigate the risk of importation of new variants by identifying cases as early as possible and inferring the timing of infection with high accuracy.
Springer
