High attack rate in a large care home outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.86, East of England, August 2023
Lucy Reeve, Elise Tessier, Amy Trindall, Nurin Abdul Aziz, Nick Andrews, Matthias E. Futschik, Jessica Rayner, Alexis Didier’Serre, Rebecca Hams, Natalie Groves, Eileen Gallagher, Rachael Graham, Beatrix Kele, Katja Höschler, Tom Fowler, Edward Blandford, H Mahgoub, Jörg Hoffmann, Mary Ramsay, Gavin Dabrera, Meera Chand, Maria Zambon, Ashley Sharp, Ellen Heinsbroek, Jamie Lopez Bernal
Abstract
We investigated an outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 variant BA.2.86 in an East of England care home. We identified 45 infections (33 residents, 12 staff), among 38 residents and 66 staff. Twenty-nine of 43 PCR swabs were sequenced, all of which were variant BA.2.86. The attack rate among residents was 87%, 19 were symptomatic, and one was hospitalised. Twenty-four days after the outbreak started, no cases were still unwell. Among the 33 resident cases, 29 had been vaccinated 4 months earlier.