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Peer-reviewedCC BYGMS hygiene and infection control

Identification of key COVID-19 infection contexts over time and the importance of within household infections.

  • Julia Hurraß1,2
  • Sydney Paltra3
  • Anna Wolff4
  • Barbara Grüne4
  • Sebastian Müller3
  • Annelene Kossow4,5
  • Johannes Nießen6
  • Kai Nagel3
6 affiliations
  1. 1HYGIUM - Center for Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Cologne, Germany.
  2. 2Institute for Translational Research, CECAD Cluster of Excellence, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
  3. 3Technische Universität Berlin, FG Verkehrssystemplanung und Verkehrstelematik, Berlin, Germany.
  4. 4Gesundheitsamt Köln, Cologne, Germany.
  5. 5Institute of Hygiene, University Hospital Muenster, Münster, Germany.
  6. 6Federal Institute of Public Health (BIÖG), Cologne, Germany.
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Abstract

Objectives

Infectious disease outbreaks, most recently the COVID-19 pandemic, have broad societal impacts and may require the introduction of costly non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). To minimize these burdens, the identification of infection contexts is paramount: knowing where infections occur allows the determination of high-risk environments, the identification of outbreak sources, and finally the introduction of targeted, and thus cost-efficient NPIs.Methods

Starting in February 2020, the Cologne public health department interviewed all PCR-confirmed COVID-19 cases residing in Cologne regarding their probable infection context. The collected individual-level data was entered into an in-house-developed software. From these interviews, aggregated case numbers for the different infection contexts are available at the daily level. The manuscript provides an explorative analysis of the aggregated data.Results

During 2021, within-one's-own-household was the dominant known infection context in Cologne. Following within-own-household-infections, the contributions differed over time, with notable contributions of shared accommodations (specifically nursing homes) early in the year, large contributions of disease import during the summer of 2021, and increasing contributions of family (different household) and leisure miscellaneous over the course of 2021.Conclusion

The analysis reveals that the combination of state-mandated NPIs and voluntary behavior adaptations strongly influenced the regional spreading dynamics and managed to limit infections in critical contexts, such as nursing homes.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{hurraß2026identification,
  title = {{Identification of key COVID-19 infection contexts over time and the importance of within household infections.}},
  author = {Julia Hurraß and Sydney Paltra and Anna Wolff and Barbara Grüne and Sebastian Müller and Annelene Kossow and Johannes Nießen and Kai Nagel},
  journal = {GMS hygiene and infection control},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.3205/dgkh000678},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42923092},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Identification of key COVID-19 infection contexts over time and the importance of within household infections.
AU  - Julia Hurraß
AU  - Sydney Paltra
AU  - Anna Wolff
AU  - Barbara Grüne
AU  - Sebastian Müller
AU  - Annelene Kossow
AU  - Johannes Nießen
AU  - Kai Nagel
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/15
JO  - GMS hygiene and infection control
DO  - 10.3205/dgkh000678
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42923092
AB  - Objectives  Infectious disease outbreaks, most recently the COVID-19 pandemic, have broad societal impacts and may require the introduction of costly non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). To minimize these burdens, the identification of infection contexts is paramount: knowing where infections occur allows the determination of high-risk environments, the identification of outbreak sources, and finally the introduction of targeted, and thus cost-efficient NPIs.Methods  Starting in February 2020, the Cologne public health department interviewed all PCR-confirmed COVID-19 cases residing in Cologne regarding their probable infection context. The collected individual-level data was entered into an in-house-developed software. From these interviews, aggregated case numbers for the different infection contexts are available at the daily level. The manuscript provides an explorative analysis of the aggregated data.Results  During 2021, within-one's-own-household was the dominant known infection context in Cologne. Following within-own-household-infections, the contributions differed over time, with notable contributions of shared accommodations (specifically nursing homes) early in the year, large contributions of disease import during the summer of 2021, and increasing contributions of family (different household) and leisure miscellaneous over the course of 2021.Conclusion  The analysis reveals that the combination of state-mandated NPIs and voluntary behavior adaptations strongly influenced the regional spreading dynamics and managed to limit infections in critical contexts, such as nursing homes.
SN  - 2196-5226
ER  -