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Tag: colleges
January 22, 2021
A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Demographic and Behavioral Risk Factors of SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Positivity among a Sample of U.S. College Students
[pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Among undergraduate students at a single college in Indiana, fraternity or sorority membership, having multiple romantic partners, knowing someone with COVID-19, drinking alcohol more than 1 day per week, and attending social gatherings with more than 4 people when drinking alcohol increased both the likelihood of seropositivity and self-reported history of SARS-CoV-2….
January 19, 2021
Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Mitigation Strategies on a University Campus Using an Agent-Based Network Model
A SARS-CoV-2 transmission model parametrized to the University of California San Diego showed that reducing on-campus housing occupancy to single residents and implementing a hybrid instruction format (only 12% of sections in-person) with a class size cap of 50 could substantially reduce the basic reproduction number, R0. However, the addition of masking and physical distancing…
January 13, 2021
Anxiety, Depression, and Health Anxiety in Undergraduate Students Living in Initial US Outbreak “Hotspot” during COVID-19 Pandemic
A cross-sectional study of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of undergraduates (n=641) in a heavily impacted area in the US (New Jersey) found that nearly half (46%) of the students reported elevated psychological distress, including health anxiety (30%), general anxiety (22%), and depression (25%). Clinically-elevated general anxiety was associated with…
January 8, 2021
Opening of Large Institutions of Higher Education and County-Level COVID-19 Incidence — United States, July 6–September 17, 2020
US counties with large colleges or universities operating with remote instruction (n=22) experienced an 18% decrease in incidence of SARS-CoV-2, while university counties with in-person instruction (n=79) experienced a 56% increase in incidence, comparing the 21-day periods before and after classes started. Counties without large colleges or universities (n=3,009) experienced a 6% decrease in incidence…
Participation in Fraternity and Sorority Activities and the Spread of COVID-19 Among Residential University Communities — Arkansas, August 21–September 5, 2020
Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 increased rapidly at an Arkansas university within two weeks of the start of the 2020-2021 academic year, likely facilitated by on- and off-campus congregate living settings and activities. Just 5% of the 965 people with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 at the university attended classes in person, and less than 1% of the positive cases…
January 4, 2021
Performance of an Antigen-Based Test for Asymptomatic and Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Testing at Two University Campuses — Wisconsin, September–October 2020
Use of SARS-CoV-2 antigen testing on two university campuses had a positive predictive value of 33% and a negative predictive value of 99%. Compared to RT-PCR testing, the Sofia antigen test had a sensitivity of 80.0% and specificity of 98.9% among symptomatic people. Accuracy was lower (sensitivity 41.2% and specificity 98.4%) when used for screening…
November 30, 2020
COVID-19 Growth in Rural versus Urban Counties with Major Universities at the Start of the 2020 Academic Year
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] An assessment of COVID-19 growth in counties with universities showed that small metro and non-metro counties had a dramatic infection spike near the beginning of the semester (weeks 2-6) and infection growth remained significantly higher than their large and medium metro counterparts for the study duration (through September 27, 2020). The authors…
October 14, 2020
SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing Reveals Rapid Transmission from College Student Clusters Resulting in Morbidity and Deaths in Vulnerable Populations
[Preprint, not peer-reviewed] In September 2020, La Crosse County, Wisconsin experienced a substantial COVID-19 outbreak (2,002 cases), which coincided with the return to in-person instruction at three local higher education institutions. Genomic sequencing identified rapid expansion of two SARS-CoV-2 sub-strains during this period, corresponding to two independent transmission events from college-aged individuals to older individuals…
September 24, 2020
College Openings Mobility and the Incidence of COVID-19 Cases
[Pre-print, not peer reviewed] In a modeling study, US counties containing a college campus that reopened with in-person instruction were found to have an average COVID-19 incidence increase of 0.024 cases per 1,000 residents over a two week period. Case increases were larger in counties with colleges that drew students coming from areas with increasing…
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