Scientific research
Reconstruction of transmission pairs of COVID-19 in China early in the pandemic reveals superspreading events as a driver of disease spread
A collaborative study led by the University of Cambridge together with HKU SPH, City University of Hong Kong, Chinese universities Dalian Minzu University and Beijing Normal University, and the University of Texas has identified superspreading events early in the pandemic between January and March 2020. Researchers reconstructed 643 transmission clusters from approximately 1,400 transmission pairs identified from publicly available reports from Chinese authorities. Of these clusters, the researchers identified at least 30 primary cases as superspreaders, with five of these events occurring within households. Their results suggest that superspreading events occur predominantly in non-household settings, underscoring the importance of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as the isolation of cases and social distancing measures. The results of this study were published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
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DOI: doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa790
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