Final published version, 726 KB, fulltext
Available under license: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Household overcrowding and risk of SARS-CoV-2
T2 - analysis of the Virus Watch prospective community cohort study in England and Wales
AU - Aldridge, Robert W
AU - Pineo, Helen
AU - Fragaszy, Ellen
AU - Eyre, Max T
AU - Kovar, Jana
AU - Nguyen, Vincent
AU - Beale, Sarah
AU - Byrne, Thomas
AU - Aryee, Anna
AU - Smith, Colette
AU - Devakumar, Delan
AU - Taylor, Jonathon
AU - Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal
AU - Fong, Wing Lam Erica
AU - Geismar, Cyril
AU - Patel, Parth
AU - Shrotri, Madhumita
AU - Braithwaite, Isobel
AU - Patni, Nicholas
AU - Navaratnam, Annalan M D
AU - Johnson, Anne M
AU - Hayward, Andrew
PY - 2021/12/15
Y1 - 2021/12/15
N2 - Background: Household overcrowding is associated with increased risk of infectious diseases across contexts and countries. Limited data exist linking household overcrowding and risk of COVID-19. We used data collected from the Virus Watch cohort to examine the association between overcrowded households and SARS-CoV-2. Methods: The Virus Watch study is a household community cohort of acute respiratory infections in England and Wales. We calculated overcrowding using the measure of persons per room for each household. We considered two primary outcomes: PCR-confirmed positive SARS-CoV-2 antigen tests and laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. We used mixed-effects logistic regression models that accounted for household structure to estimate the association between household overcrowding and SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results:26,367 participants were included in our analyses. The proportion of participants with a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR result was highest in the overcrowded group (9.0%; 99/1,100) and lowest in the under-occupied group (4.2%; 980/23,196). In a mixed-effects logistic regression model, we found strong evidence of an increased odds of a positive PCR SARS-CoV-2 antigen result (odds ratio 2.45; 95% CI:1.43-4.19; p-value=0.001) and increased odds of a positive SARS-CoV-2 antibody result in individuals living in overcrowded houses (3.32; 95% CI:1.54-7.15; p-valueConclusion:Public health interventions to prevent and stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2 should consider the risk of infection for people living in overcrowded households and pay greater attention to reducing household transmission.
AB - Background: Household overcrowding is associated with increased risk of infectious diseases across contexts and countries. Limited data exist linking household overcrowding and risk of COVID-19. We used data collected from the Virus Watch cohort to examine the association between overcrowded households and SARS-CoV-2. Methods: The Virus Watch study is a household community cohort of acute respiratory infections in England and Wales. We calculated overcrowding using the measure of persons per room for each household. We considered two primary outcomes: PCR-confirmed positive SARS-CoV-2 antigen tests and laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. We used mixed-effects logistic regression models that accounted for household structure to estimate the association between household overcrowding and SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results:26,367 participants were included in our analyses. The proportion of participants with a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR result was highest in the overcrowded group (9.0%; 99/1,100) and lowest in the under-occupied group (4.2%; 980/23,196). In a mixed-effects logistic regression model, we found strong evidence of an increased odds of a positive PCR SARS-CoV-2 antigen result (odds ratio 2.45; 95% CI:1.43-4.19; p-value=0.001) and increased odds of a positive SARS-CoV-2 antibody result in individuals living in overcrowded houses (3.32; 95% CI:1.54-7.15; p-valueConclusion:Public health interventions to prevent and stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2 should consider the risk of infection for people living in overcrowded households and pay greater attention to reducing household transmission.
KW - Overcrowding
KW - Covid-19
KW - Sars-cov-2
U2 - 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17308.1
DO - 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17308.1
M3 - Journal article
VL - 6
JO - Wellcome Open Research
JF - Wellcome Open Research
SN - 2398-502X
M1 - 347
ER -