Participation in Fraternity and Sorority Activities and the Spread of COVID-19 Among Residential University Communities — Arkansas, August 21–September 5, 2020

Vang, Kristyn; Krow-Lucal, Elisabeth; James, Allison; Cima, Maaike; Kothari, Atul; Zohoori, Namvar; Porter, Austin; Campbell, Ellsworth

doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7001a5

Cited by 54 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(5 reference statements)

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“…The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted January 25, 2021. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.21.21249825 doi: medRxiv preprint that a single negative asymptomatic test result did not preclude the possibility of recent exposure or the development of symptoms over the next few days. On the contrary, negative test results can provide a false sense of security that leads to reduced mitigation and increased spread, as documented in professional sports 7,8 , universities [9][10][11][12] , and government organizations including the White House. Thus, students received repeated, regular messaging that a single negative asymptomatic test did not confirm whether someone has been recently exposed or if they would develop symptoms in the next few days.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SARS-CoV-2 Control on a Large Urban College Campus Without Mass Testing

O’Donnell

Brownlee

Martin

et al. 2021

Preprint

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ObjectiveA small percentage of universities and colleges conduct mass SARS-CoV-2 testing. However, universal testing is resource-intensive, strains national testing capacity, and false negative tests can encourage unsafe behaviors.ParticipantsA large urban university campus.MethodsVirus control centered on three pillars: mitigation, containment, and communication, with testing of symptomatic and a random subset of asymptomatic students.ResultsRandom surveillance testing demonstrated a prevalence among asymptomatic students of 0.4% throughout the term. There were two surges in cases that were contained by enhanced mitigation and communication combined with targeted testing. Cumulative cases totaled 445 for the term, most resulting from unsafe undergraduate student behavior and among students living off-campus. A case rate of 232/10,000 undergraduates equaled or surpassed several peer institutions that conducted mass testing.ConclusionsAn emphasis on behavioral mitigation and communication can control virus transmission on a large urban campus combined with a limited and targeted testing strategy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SARS-CoV-2 Control on a Large Urban College Campus Without Mass Testing

O’Donnell

Brownlee

Martin

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“…Previous reports have described outbreaks of COVID-19 among university students with complex social networks and social exposures (1)(2)(3)(4)(5). In this outbreak, 158 cases of COVID-19 were identified after many unvaccinated students traveled during a university break, despite university policies advising against travel.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2 in a University Outbreak After Spring Break — Chicago, Illinois, March–May 2021

Doyle¹,

Teran²,

Reefhuis³

et al. 2021

MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep.

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To prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, colleges and universities have implemented multiple strategies including testing, isolation, quarantine, contact tracing, masking, and vaccination. In April 2021, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) was notified of a large cluster of students with COVID-19 at an urban university after spring break. A total of 158 cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed among undergraduate students during March 15-May 3, 2021; the majority (114; 72.2%) lived in on-campus dormitories. CDPH evaluated the role of travel and social connections, as well as the potential impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants, on transmission. Among 140 infected students who were interviewed, 89 (63.6%) reported recent travel outside Chicago during spring break, and 57 (40.7%) reported indoor social exposures. At the time of the outbreak, undergraduate-aged persons were largely ineligible for vaccination in Chicago; only three of the students with COVID-19 (1.9%) were fully vaccinated. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) of 104 specimens revealed multiple distinct SARS-CoV-2 lineages, suggesting several nearly simultaneous introductions. Most specimens (66; 63.5%) were B.1.1.222, a lineage not widely detected in Chicago before or after this outbreak. These results demonstrate the potential for COVID-19 outbreaks on university campuses after widespread student travel during breaks, at the beginning of new school terms, and when students participate in indoor social gatherings. To prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission, colleges and universities should encourage COVID-19 vaccination; discourage unvaccinated students from travel, including during university breaks; implement serial COVID-19 screening among unvaccinated persons after university breaks; encourage masking; and implement universal serial testing for students based on community transmission levels.

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“…In less controlled scenarios, although the proportional increase was smaller, in-person sporting events caused a larger increase in the absolute number of cases. Most of these scenarios are higher than the collective increase in student cases seen on campuses in 2020 when there were few to no in person football events [14,15,28,29]. In many circumstances, this higher caseload may represent a more dangerous scenario, as a healthcare system's capacity to absorb new cases and the corresponding adverse outcomes from COVID-19 is largely a question of fixed capacities (at least in the short term) of available beds, ventilators, etc., many of which are already constrained [30].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Excess Risk of COVID-19 to University Populations Resulting from In-Person Sporting Events

Johnson

Jackson

Mietchen

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Background: One of the consequences of COVID-19 has been the cancelation of collegiate sporting events. We explore the impact of sports on COVID-19 transmission on a college campus. Methods: Using a compartmental model representing the university, we model the impact of influxes of 10,000 visitors attending events and ancillary activities (dining out, visiting family, shopping, etc.) on 20,000 students. We vary the extent visitors interact with the campus, the number of infectious visitors, and the extent to which the campus has controlled COVID-19 absent events. We also conduct a global sensitivity analysis. Results: Events caused an increase in the number of cases ranging from a 25% increase when the campus already had an uncontrolled COVID-19 outbreak and visitors had a low prevalence of COVID-19 and mixed lightly with the campus community to an 822% increase where the campus had controlled their COVID-19 outbreak and visitors had both a high prevalence of COVID-19 and mixed heavily with the campus community. The model was insensitive to parameter uncertainty, save for the duration a symptomatic individual was infectious. Conclusion: Sporting events represent a threat to the health of the campus community. This is the case even in circumstances where COVID-19 seems controlled both on-campus and among the general population.

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Participation in Fraternity and Sorority Activities and the Spread of COVID-19 Among Residential University Communities — Arkansas, August 21–September 5, 2020

Cited by 54 publications

References 5 publications

SARS-CoV-2 Control on a Large Urban College Campus Without Mass Testing

SARS-CoV-2 Control on a Large Urban College Campus Without Mass Testing

Multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2 in a University Outbreak After Spring Break — Chicago, Illinois, March–May 2021

Excess Risk of COVID-19 to University Populations Resulting from In-Person Sporting Events

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