Tracking COVID for Safer Schools

<b>Background:</b> Primary and secondary schools reopened after June 2020 in Canada during the pandemic while other businesses and organizations employed work-from-home policies. The reopening was to provide better options for education and well-being, but may have put educators at risk of contracting COVID-19. <br>

<b>Aims of the CITF-funded study:</b> The goal was to determine the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies from infection, the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and vaccine receptiveness among classroom educators and school staff. They also aimed to estimate asymptomatic transmission rates in schools as measured by targeted nucleic acid viral testing for SARS-CoV-2. T cell, B cell, and SARS-CoV-2 antibody assays were used to further characterize immune response to the virus. (Note: psychological impact and vaccine receptiveness data not shared with CITF Databank [1], data on asymptomatic transmission rates in children not shared with CITF Databank [2].) <br>

<b>Methods:</b> This cohort study recruited active school staff from the Vancouver, Delta, and Richmond school districts in British Columbia. Participants provided a blood sample for serology testing and completed online questionnaires annually at the beginning of 2021, 2022 and 2023. <br>

<b>Contributed dataset contents: </b>The datasets include 2444 participants who completed baseline questionnaires between February 2021 and June 2021. An additional 82 participants who did not complete a baseline questionnaire gave blood samples or follow-up surveys over the three sampling periods: approximately 87% of participants gave a blood sample between February 2021 and July 2021, 64% between January 2022 and March 2022, and 40% between January 2023 and May 2023. A total of 4828 samples were collected. Variables include data in the following areas of information: demographics (age, gender, race-ethnicity and indigeneity, education, household composition), general health (smokes; chronic conditions; height and weight; flu vaccine), COVID infection history (dates of positive PCR tests, hospitalizations, symptoms), adherence to COVID-19 public health guidelines, time spent with children, SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, and serology (antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 RBD, nucleocapsid, and spike proteins). <br>

[1]: Please contact original study team for psychological and vaccine receptiveness data.<br>

[2]: Please contact original study team for data on asymptomatic transmission rates in children.

背景：2020年6月之后，加拿大境内的中小学在新冠疫情期间恢复线下授课，而其他企业与机构则推行居家办公政策。此次复课旨在为教育活动与师生心理健康提供更优选择，但也可能使教育工作者面临感染严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2型（SARS-CoV-2，即新冠病毒COVID-19）的风险。<br><br>CITF资助研究目标：本研究旨在明确教室教职员工与学校职员中，因感染SARS-CoV-2产生的抗体流行率、新冠疫情带来的心理影响，以及疫苗接种意愿；同时通过针对SARS-CoV-2的靶向核酸病毒检测，估算校园内的无症状传播率。此外，研究还采用T细胞、B细胞及SARS-CoV-2抗体检测实验，进一步表征机体对该病毒的免疫应答。（注：心理影响与疫苗接种意愿数据未共享至CITF数据库[1]；儿童无症状传播率相关数据未共享至CITF数据库[2]。）<br><br>研究方法：本队列研究（cohort study）招募了不列颠哥伦比亚省温哥华、三角洲及里士满学区的在职学校职员。受试者于2021、2022及2023年初分别提供血液样本用于血清学检测（serology testing），并完成在线问卷调查。<br><br>贡献数据集内容：本数据集涵盖2021年2月至2021年6月期间完成基线问卷调查的2444名受试者。另有82名未完成基线问卷调查的受试者在三次采样周期内提供了血液样本或参与了随访调查：约87%的受试者于2021年2月至2021年7月期间提供血液样本，64%的受试者于2022年1月至2022年3月期间提供样本，40%的受试者于2023年1月至2023年5月期间提供样本。本次研究共采集4828份样本。数据集包含以下领域的变量信息：人口统计学资料（年龄、性别、种族族裔与原住民身份、受教育程度、家庭构成）、一般健康状况（吸烟史、慢性疾病、身高体重、流感疫苗接种情况）、新冠感染史（新冠病毒聚合酶链式反应（PCR）检测阳性日期、住院情况、感染症状）、新冠疫情公共卫生防护措施依从性、与儿童共处时长、SARS-CoV-2疫苗接种情况，以及血清学检测结果（针对SARS-CoV-2受体结合域（Receptor Binding Domain，RBD）、核衣壳蛋白与刺突蛋白的抗体水平）。<br><br>[1] 心理影响与疫苗接种意愿数据请联系原研究团队获取。<br>[2] 儿童无症状传播率相关数据请联系原研究团队获取。