Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

14 INFECTION CONTROL National study to explore whether COVID-19 vaccine prevents transmission By Mackenzie Bean A national study involving college students will seek to answer whether the COVID-19 vaccine can prevent asymptomatic transmission. Researchers at the COVID-19 Prevention Network — headquartered at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle — are conducting the "Prevent COVID U" study, which launched March 25 at 21 college campuses. Researchers aim to enroll 12,000 students nationwide who will perform daily nose swabs for four months. Half will receive Moderna's vaccine the day they enroll, and the other half will get vaccinated after the four-month period. Researchers will also identify 25,000 close contacts of study participants to assess the degree of transmission from vaccinated students. "We hope that within the next five or so months, we'll be able answer the very important question about whether vaccinated people get infected as- ymptomatically, and if they do, do they transmit the infection to others," An- thony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said of the trial during a March 26 White House briefing. The institute is funding the study. n People age 65+ at higher risk for reinfection, study suggests By Erica Carbajal A previous bout with COVID-19 pro- vided 80 percent protection against reinfection in those younger than age 65, but just 47 percent protection for those 65 and older, according to research published March 17 in e Lancet. e results indicate older adults are more vul- nerable to reinfection, researchers said. e study, conducted in Denmark, evaluated the results of people tested for COVID-19 between Feb. 26, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020. Researchers compared infection rates between people with positive and negative tests last year during the first surge, from March to May, and the second surge, from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31. Of 11,068 people who tested positive during the first wave, 0.65 percent tested positive again during the second wave, compared to 3.27 percent of people who tested negative during the first surge. at translated to an 80.5 percent protection rate for those with a prior infection, but just 47.1 percent protection for those age 65 and older. e study had a number of limitations, includ- ing a small number of older people who were infected, e New York Times reported March 17. Additionally, some of the more transmissi- ble variants that have emerged were not widely recognized during the study period and could not be assessed. However, the study aligns with previous findings regarding reinfection rates and reinforces the need to prioritize the older adult population. "Because the older age group is more prone to a serious clinical course of illness, this finding highlights the need to implement protective measures of the older population in the form of effective vaccines and enhanced physical distancing and infection control, even in those known to be previously infected," researchers concluded. "Furthermore, our data indicate that vaccination of previously infected individuals should be done because natural protection cannot be relied on." n WHO: COVID-19 threatens progress made on treating tuberculosis By Erica Carbajal A bout 1.4 million fewer people received care for tuberculosis in 2020 than in 2019, according to a World Health Organization report published March 22. Indonesia, South Africa and the Philippines saw the largest drops in TB case notifications. Consequently, a half million excess TB deaths could occur, the WHO esti- mates, which would set the world back a decade in terms of progress on TB mortality. The WHO analysis is based on preliminary data from 84 countries. "The disruption to essential services for people with TB is just one tragic ex- ample of the ways the pandemic is disproportionately affecting some of the world's poorest people, who were already at higher risk for TB," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, director-general of the WHO. "These sobering data point to the need for countries to make universal health coverage a key priority as they respond to and recover from the pandemic, to ensure access to essential services for TB and all disease." To get back on track with identifying and treating people with TB, the WHO report called for a scale-up of testing. One such strategy would be simulta- neous testing for COVID-19 and TB, given the similarity of symptoms. The report also outlines 10 recommendations for countries to follow, includ- ing a substantial increase in TB research investments. n

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