Airborne transmission risks of tuberculosis and Covid-19 in schools in South Africa, Switzerland, and Tanzania
Modeling of environmental data
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19593586 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nicolas Banholzer (0000-0003-0138-6120, University of Bern), Remo Schmutz (0009-0008-3207-8052, University of Bern), Keren Middelkoop (0000-0001-9922-4263, Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation), Jerry Hella (0000-0003-2392-8592, Ifakara Health Institute), Matthias Egger (0000-0002-1791-1842, University of Bern), Robin Wood (0000-0002-4276-7117, Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation), Lukas Fenner (0000-0003-3309-4835, University of Bern, corresponding author) |
| Editors | Flavio Finger (0000-0002-8613-5170) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | e0002800 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-18 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | PLOS Global Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2767-3375 • E-ISSN: 2767-3375 |
| Publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002800 |
| PMID | 38236801 |
| OpenAlex | W4390986914 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 64 |
The COVID-19 pandemic renewed interest in airborne transmission of respiratory infections, particularly in congregate indoor settings, such as schools. We modeled transmission risks of tuberculosis (caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis , Mtb ) and COVID-19 (caused by SARS-CoV-2) in South African, Swiss and Tanzanian secondary schools. We estimated the risks of infection with the Wells-Riley equation, expressed as the median with 2.5% and 97.5% quantiles (credible interval [CrI]), based on the ventilation rate and the duration of exposure to infectious doses (so-called quanta). We computed the air change rate (ventilation) using carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) as a tracer gas and modeled the quanta generation rate based on reported estimates from the literature. The share of infectious students in the classroom is determined by country-specific estimates of pulmonary TB. For SARS-CoV-2, the number of infectious students was estimated based on excess mortality to mitigate the bias from country-specific reporting and testing. Average CO 2 concentration (parts per million [ppm]) was 1,610 ppm in South Africa, 1,757 ppm in Switzerland, and 648 ppm in Tanzania. The annual risk of infection for Mtb was 22.1% (interquartile range [IQR] 2.7%-89.5%) in South Africa, 0.7% (IQR 0.1%-6.4%) in Switzerland, and 0.5% (IQR 0.0%-3.9%) in Tanzania. For SARS-CoV-2, the monthly risk of infection was 6.8% (IQR 0.8%-43.8%) in South Africa, 1.2% (IQR 0.1%-8.8%) in Switzerland, and 0.9% (IQR 0.1%-6.6%) in Tanzania. The differences in transmission risks primarily reflect a higher incidence of SARS-CoV-2 and particularly prevalence of TB in South Africa, but also higher air change rates due to better natural ventilation of the classrooms in Tanzania. Global comparisons of the modeled risk of infectious disease transmission in classrooms can provide high-level information for policy-making regarding appropriate infection control strategies
Airborne transmission · Environmental health · Geography · Interquartile range · Mycobacterium tuberculosis · Pandemic · Tanzania · Tuberculosis · Veterinary medicine · COVID-19 epidemiological studies · COVID-19 impact on air quality · Demography · Infection Control and Ventilation · Medicine · Internal Medicine
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| Highly cited | No |
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