PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
The question of whether community nucleic acid testing contributes to an increase in infections within residential compounds has not been definitively answered. Shanghai, one of the largest cities in China, conducted city-wide community testing during its lockdown from late March to May 2022. This situation provided a unique opportunity to examine the effect of community testing on infection rates, as the lockdown largely eliminated confounding factors such as citizen mobility. In our study, based on a survey of 208 residential compounds in Shanghai and the daily infection data during the lockdown period, we found a significant correlation between community testing and infection risk in these compounds. However, after addressing potential issues of reverse causality and sampling bias, we found no significant causal link between community testing and infection risk. Furthermore, we discovered that increased awareness of mask-wearing correlated with a decrease in infections within the residential compounds during community testing. This suggests that the perceived correlation between community testing and infection risk may be confounded by residents\' adherence to mask-wearing practices. Our findings emphasize the need for public health decision-makers to reinforce the importance of mask-wearing during community testing, as a means to prevent infections among citizens.
摘要：
社区核酸检测是否会导致住宅化合物内感染增加的问题尚未得到明确回答。上海,中国最大的城市之一，在2022年3月下旬至5月的封锁期间，进行了全市社区测试。这种情况为研究社区检测对感染率的影响提供了独特的机会，因为封锁在很大程度上消除了公民流动性等混杂因素。在我们的研究中,根据对上海208个住宅区的调查和封锁期间的每日感染数据，我们发现这些化合物的社区检测与感染风险之间存在显著相关性.然而,在解决了反向因果关系和抽样偏差的潜在问题之后，我们发现社区检测与感染风险之间没有显著的因果关系.此外，我们发现，在社区测试期间，人们对戴口罩的认识增加与住宅大院内感染的减少相关。这表明，社区检测和感染风险之间的相关性可能被居民坚持戴口罩的做法所混淆。我们的研究结果强调，公共卫生决策者需要在社区测试期间加强戴口罩的重要性，作为防止公民感染的一种手段。
