Journal
VIRUSES-BASEL
Volume 14, Issue 3, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/v14030533
Keywords
omicron; transmissibility; reproduction number; serial interval; coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; outbreak
Categories
Funding
- Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea by the Ministry of Education [NRF-2020R1I1A3066471]
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This study aimed to report the early estimates of the serial interval distribution and reproduction number for the omicron variant in South Korea. The findings showed that the omicron variant had a significantly shorter serial interval in child infectors compared to adult infectors. The mean reproduction number for the omicron variant during the first local outbreak was estimated to be 1.72. Adherence to strict public health measures, especially in children, is recommended to reduce the transmission risk of the highly transmissible omicron variant in the community.
The omicron variant (B.1.1.529) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was the predominant variant in South Korea from late January 2022. In this study, we aimed to report the early estimates of the serial interval distribution and reproduction number to quantify the transmissibility of the omicron variant in South Korea between 25 November 2021 and 31 December 2021. We analyzed 427 local omicron cases and reconstructed 73 transmission pairs. We used a maximum likelihood estimation to assess serial interval distribution from transmission pair data and reproduction numbers from 74 local cases in the first local outbreak. We estimated that the mean serial interval was 3.78 (standard deviation, 0.76) days, which was significantly shorter in child infectors (3.0 days) compared to adult infectors (5.0 days) (p < 0.01). We estimated the mean reproduction number was 1.72 (95% CrI, 1.60-1.85) for the omicron variant during the first local outbreak. Strict adherence to public health measures, particularly in children, should be in place to reduce the transmission risk of the highly transmissible omicron variant in the community.
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