Osong Public Health Res Perspect.  2024 Aug;15(4):375-382. 10.24171/j.phrp.2023.0351.

Identifying risk factors for COVID-19 cluster infections in schools in the Republic of Korea: a case-control study

• Choi J
• Choi S
• Lee B
• Park YJ
• Lee SE

• KMID: 2559378
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2023.0351

Abstract

Objectives
No study has yet analyzed risk factors to determine whether students with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections may affect students at neighboring schools. Therefore, this study aimed to determine risk factors for COVID-19 transmission among schools within a community in the Republic of Korea.
Methods
An epidemiological investigation was conducted among 696 students and school staff members at 3 schools where COVID-19 clusters began on October 15, 2021. Interviews, visit history surveys, a facility risk assessment, and closed-circuit television were used to identify risk factors. The statistical significance of risk factors was also evaluated.
Results
We confirmed 129 cases (18.5%) among the individuals exposed to COVID-19 at the 3 schools, many of whom had a history of visiting the same multi-use facilities. The odds ratio of having visited multi-use facilities such as karaoke rooms was 1.90 (95% confidence interval, 1.03–3.50); the number of visits to a karaoke room and the visit durations were significantly higher among confirmed cases than non-confirmed cases (p = 0.02 and p = 0.03, respectively).
Conclusion
Having a history of visiting karaoke rooms often and spending a long time there were risk factors for COVID-19 infection and inter-school transmission. Thus, it is necessary to investigate the status of multi-use facilities frequently visited by adolescents and consider incorporating them into the scope of school quarantine to prevent infectious diseases at schools in a community.

Keyword

COVID-19; Disease outbreaks; Risk factors; Schools