- 著者
- Junji Seto Yoko Aoki Kenichi Komabayashi Yoko Ikeda Mika Sampei Naomi Ogawa Yumiko Uchiumi Shunji Fujii Masami Chiba Emiko Suzuki Tatsuya Takahashi Keiko Yamada Yoshiko Otani Yoshihiro Ashino Kyoko Araki Takeo Kato Hitoshi Ishikawa Tatsuya Ikeda Hideaki Abe Tadayuki Ahiko Katsumi Mizuta
- 出版者
- National Institute of Infectious Diseases
- 雑誌
- Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases (ISSN:13446304)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.74, no.6, pp.522-529, 2021-11-22 (Released:2021-11-22)
- 参考文献数
- 27
- 被引用文献数
- 2 5
Public health interventions have played an important role in controlling coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is a rapidly spreading infectious disease. To contribute to future COVID-19 countermeasures, we aimed to verify the results of the countermeasures employed by public health centers (PHCs) against the first wave of COVID-19 in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan (Yamagata). Between January and May 2020, 1,253 patients suspected of SARS-CoV-2 infection were invited for testing. Simultaneously, based on retrospective contact tracings, PHCs investigated the infection sources and transmission routes of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases and tested 928 contacts. Consequently, 69 cases were confirmed between March 31 and May 4, 58 of whom were from among the contacts (84.1%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 75.5–92.7). The spread of infection was triggered in cases harboring epidemiological links outside Yamagata. Subsequently, the number of cases rapidly increased. However, PHCs identified epidemiological links in 61 (88.4%; 95% CI 80.8–96.0) of the 69 cases, and transmission chains up to the fifth generation. Finally, the spread of infection ended after approximately one month. Our results indicate that the identification of infection sources and active case finding from contacts based on retrospective contact tracing was likely to be an effective strategy in ending the first wave of COVID-19 in Yamagata.