Rapid implementation of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing to investigate cases of health-care associated COVID-19: a prospective genomic surveillance study
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Title
Rapid implementation of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing to investigate cases of health-care associated COVID-19: a prospective genomic surveillance study
Subject
Description
The burden and influence of health-care associated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections is unknown. We aimed to examine the use of rapid SARS-CoV-2 sequencing combined with detailed epidemiological analysis to investigate health-care associated SARS-CoV-2 infections and inform infection control measures.
A response to this article has been published:
And an update:
A response to this article has been published:
- Behrmann, Ole, and Martin Spiegel. 2020. "COVID-19: from rapid genome sequencing to fast decisions." The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
And an update:
- Hamilton, William L., Tom Fieldman, Aminu Jahun, Ben Warne, Christopher J. R. Illingworth, Chris Jackson, Beth Blane, Elinor Moore, Michael P. Weekes, Sharon J. Peacock, Daniela De Angelis, Ian Goodfellow, Theodore Gouliouris, M. Estée Török, Martin D. Curran, Surendra Parmar, Myra Hosmillo, Yasmin Chaudhry, Malte L. Pinckert, Iliana Georgana, Rhys Izuagbe, Mark Ferris, Chris Workman, Nick K. Jones, Lucy Rivett, Dominic Sparkes, Matthew Routledge, David Enoch, James Whitehorn, Christine Moody, Liam Brennan, Richard Smith, Rachel Tsui, Rachel Bousfield, Joanna Pocock, Michelle Toleman, Helen Payne, Suny Coscione, Chloe Myers, Katherine Sharrocks, Pooja Ravji, Clare Leong, and Isobel Ramsay. 2021. "Applying prospective genomic surveillance to support investigation of hospital-onset COVID-19." The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Date
2020-07-14
Type
Citation
Meredith, Luke W., William L. Hamilton, Ben Warne, Charlotte J. Houldcroft, Myra Hosmillo, Aminu S. Jahun, Martin D. Curran, Surendra Parmar, Laura G. Caller, Sarah L. Caddy, Fahad A. Khokhar, Anna Yakovleva, Grant Hall, Theresa Feltwell, Sally Forrest, Sushmita Sridhar, Michael P. Weekes, Stephen Baker, Nicholas Brown, Elinor Moore, Ashley Popay, Iain Roddick, Mark Reacher, Theodore Gouliouris, Sharon J. Peacock, Gordon Dougan, M. Estée Török, and Ian Goodfellow. 2020. "Rapid implementation of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing to investigate cases of health-care associated COVID-19: a prospective genomic surveillance study." The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Abstract
Background
The burden and influence of health-care associated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections is unknown. We aimed to examine the use of rapid SARS-CoV-2 sequencing combined with detailed epidemiological analysis to investigate health-care associated SARS-CoV-2 infections and inform infection control measures.
Methods
In this prospective surveillance study, we set up rapid SARS-CoV-2 nanopore sequencing from PCR-positive diagnostic samples collected from our hospital (Cambridge, UK) and a random selection from hospitals in the East of England, enabling sample-to-sequence in less than 24 h. We established a weekly review and reporting system with integration of genomic and epidemiological data to investigate suspected health-care associated COVID-19 cases.
Findings
Between March 13 and April 24, 2020, we collected clinical data and samples from 5613 patients with COVID-19 from across the East of England. We sequenced 1000 samples producing 747 high-quality genomes. We combined epidemiological and genomic analysis of the 299 patients from our hospital and identified 35 clusters of identical viruses involving 159 patients. 92 (58%) of 159 patients had strong epidemiological links and 32 (20%) patients had plausible epidemiological links. These results were fed back to clinical, infection control, and hospital management teams, leading to infection-control interventions and informing patient safety reporting.
Interpretation
We established real-time genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in a UK hospital and showed the benefit of combined genomic and epidemiological analysis for the investigation of health-care associated COVID-19. This approach enabled us to detect cryptic transmission events and identify opportunities to target infection-control interventions to further reduce health-care associated infections. Our findings have important implications for national public health policy as they enable rapid tracking and investigation of infections in hospital and community settings.
Funding
COVID-19 Genomics UK funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, UK Research and Innovation, and the Wellcome Sanger Institute.
Accessibility
Free online on Lancet site.
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