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Oxford University Press - PMC COVID-19 Collection logoLink to Oxford University Press - PMC COVID-19 Collection
. 2021 May 6:ckab079. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckab079

SARS-CoV-2 infections in kindergartens and associated households at the start of the second wave in Berlin, Germany — a cross sectional study

Marlene Thielecke 1,#, Stefanie Theuring 1,✉,#, Welmoed van Loon 1, Franziska Hommes 1, Marcus A Mall 2, Alexander Rosen 2, Falko Böhringer 3, Christof von Kalle 4, Valerie Kirchberger 5, Tobias Kurth 6, Joachim Seybold 5, Frank P Mockenhaupt 1; on behalf of the BECOSS study group2
PMCID: PMC8135989  PMID: 33956945

Abstract

Actual surveys in kindergartens on SARS-CoV-2 infections are rare. At the beginning of the second pandemic wave, we screened twelve randomly selected kindergartens in Berlin, Germany. A total of 720 participants (pre-school children, staff, and connected household members) were briefly examined and interviewed, and SARS-CoV-2 infections and anti-SARS-Cov-2 IgG antibodies were assessed. About a quarter of the participants showed common cold-resembling symptoms. However, no SARS-CoV-2 infection was detected, and only one childcare worker showed IgG seroreactivity. Against a backdrop of increased pandemic activity in the community, this cross-sectional study does not suggest that kindergartens are silent transmission reservoirs.

Keywords: daycare, kindergarten, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, PCR, antibody


Articles from The European Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

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