TITLE:
Symptomatic COVID-19 in University Students: A School-Wide Web-Based Questionnaire Survey during the Omicron Variant Outbreak
AUTHORS:
Mai Kitahara, Hisami Sameshima, Rie Tanuma, Kumi Setoyama, Yuka Yamaguchi, Akiyo Kamachi, Satoko Nakamura, Mayuko Sakuma, Yoichi Kawaike, Tamotsu Furuya, Shinji Ijichi
KEYWORDS:
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Omicron Variant, Risk Behaviors, Protective Factors
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Infectious Diseases,
Vol.14 No.1,
February
2,
2024
ABSTRACT: Aim: To detect risk and preventive factors associated with the Omicron variant infection in university students, a combination of a web-based survey and multivariate logistic regression analysis was introduced as the front-line initiatives by the school health practitioners. Design: Questionnaire survey. Methods: The school-wide web-based questionnaire survey was conducted among our university students as a part of the annual health check-up in April, 2023. The positive outcome was confined to the first symptomatic COVID-19 onset during the Omicron variant outbreak. Results: In this self-administered survey, risk or protective associations were merely estimated statistically in university students (n = 5406). In measured factors, karaoke and club/group activities could maintain the statistical significance in adjusted odds ratios (ORs) as relative risk factors, and science course, measles/ rubella (MR) vaccination, and COVID-19 vaccination remained as relative protective factors in adjusted OR analyses. Club/group activities with member gathering and karaoke sing-along sessions in university students may frequently have WHO’s three Cs. These risk factors are still important topics for the infection control of COVID-19 in university students. Together with some recent reports from other researchers, the significant protective role of MR vaccine in our survey warrants further clinical investigation. If the breakthrough infection continuously constitutes the majority of infection, real data in test-negative case-control or web-based questionnaire design continue to be important for statistical analysis to determine the minimal requirement of our strategies which may be equivalent to or replace COVID-19 vaccines.