Abstract

BackgroundThe lab-confirmed interval is the date from lab confirmation in a core case (infector) to lab confirmation in a second case (infectee); however, its distribution and application are seldom reported. This study aimed to investigate the lab-confirmed interval and its application in the preliminary evaluation of the strength of disease prevention and control measures.MethodsTaking European countries and Chinese provinces outside Hubei as examples, we identified 63 infector-infectee pairs from European countries from Wikipedia, and 103 infector-infectee pairs from official public sources in Chinese provinces outside Hubei. The lab-confirmed intervals were obtained through analysis of the collected data and adopting the bootstrap method.ResultsThe mean lab-confirmed interval was 2.6 (95% CI: 2.1–3.1) days for Europe and 2.6 (95% CI: 1.9–3.3) days for China outside Hubei, which were shorter than the reported serial intervals. For index patients aged ≥60 years old, the lab-confirmed interval in Europe was slightly longer (mean: 2.9; 95% CI: 2.0–3.6) and obviously longer in China outside Hubei (mean: 3.8; 95% CI: 1.9–5.5) than that for patients aged < 60 years.ConclusionInvestigation of the lab-confirmed interval can provide additional information on the characteristics of emergent outbreaks and can be a feasible indication to evaluate the strength of prevention and control measures. When the lab-confirmed interval was shorter than the serial interval, it could objectively reflect improvements in laboratory capacity and the surveillance of close contacts.

Highlights

  • The lab-confirmed interval is the date from lab confirmation in a core case to lab confirmation in a second case; its distribution and application are seldom reported

  • In the present study, taking European countries and Chinese provinces outside Hubei as examples, we investigated the distribution of the lab-confirmed interval to provide additional characteristic information of COVID-19 clusters and applied it as a feasible indication to evaluate the prevention and control strength of the clustered epidemic based on the relationship between the lab-confirmed interval and the reported serial interval

  • Conclusion the sample size of our study was lacking due to the limitations of the publicly available data, our study illustrated that the investigation of the lab-confirmed interval can provide additional information of COVID19 clusters, such as variation in the characteristics of index patients

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Summary

Introduction

The lab-confirmed interval is the date from lab confirmation in a core case (infector) to lab confirmation in a second case (infectee); its distribution and application are seldom reported. This study aimed to investigate the lab-confirmed interval and its application in the preliminary evaluation of the strength of disease prevention and control measures. Detection, and control, the ability to confirm cases is exceptionally critical. Reliable diagnosis of COVID-19 is based on the detection of unique sequences of viral RNA by nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs), such as real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRTPCR) [10, 11]. Since the publication of in-depth sequencing analysis of SARS-CoV-2 [12], NAAT confirmation testing has been made available. For the evaluation of contacts in COVID-19 cases, PCR detection for asymptomatic or mild contacts may be considered. Prompt identification of confirmed cases and effective quarantine of those who may have been exposed to the virus are extremely important in stopping the spread of the outbreak

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