Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2025

Swabbing the Urban Environment - A Pipeline for Sampling and Detection of SARS-CoV-2 From Environmental Reservoirs
Published on: April 9, 2021
SARS-CoV-2 transmission in university classes
William Ruth1, Richard Lockhart1
1Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC Canada.
Abstract:
We investigate transmission dynamics for SARS-CoV-2 on a real network of classes at Simon Fraser University. Outbreaks are simulated over the course of one semester across numerous parameter settings, including moving classes above certain size thresholds online. Regression trees are used to analyze the effect of disease parameters on simulation outputs. We find that an aggressive class size thresholding strategy is required to mitigate the risk of a large outbreak, and that transmission by symptomatic individuals is a key driver of outbreak size. These findings provide guidance for designing control strategies at other institutions, as well as setting priorities and allocating resources for disease monitoring.
Supplementary Information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13721-022-00375-1.
Related Concept Videos
Transmission-based Precautions II: Airborne and Protective Environment
Airborne precautions:
Use airborne precautions when treating patients known or suspected to have diseases that spread through the air—for example, tuberculosis or measles. These organisms are present in smaller droplets expelled by an infected person and...
Transmission-based Precautions I: Contact, Enteric, and Droplets
Contact Precautions:
Contact precautions are the measures taken to prevent the transmission of infectious agents, especially epidemiologically important microorganisms such as MRSA or influenza, primarily transmitted through direct or indirect contact with an...
Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) and Cancer
RSV is a retrovirus that contains two copies of a plus-strand RNA genome. Its genome consists of four main open...
Infection
The chain begins with pathogens: bacteria, viruses, fungi, prions, or parasites such as protozoa helminths. These can be present on the skin as transient or resident flora, or they can be acquired from the environment. Identifying and treating the type of infection and...
Pulmonary Tuberculosis I
Causative Organism
The primary infectious agent causing tuberculosis is Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a slow-growing, acid-fast, aerobic rod that exhibits sensitivity to heat and ultraviolet light. Instances of Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium avium contributing to the development of TB infection are rare.
Mode of...
Viral Recombination

