Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators are leading a new study that examines the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, within households in Tennessee.

The study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aims to understand how fast the infections spread within households and the factors that may be associated with that transmission.

“Some studies have described the patterns of transmission of coronavirus infections in other countries and settings where different containment and control measures have been implemented, so extrapolating those data to our local reality is difficult,” said Carlos Grijalva, MD, MPH, an epidemiologist and associate professor of Health Policy, and co-principal investigator of the transmission study. “Prospective measurements of local disease transmission are necessary to inform our public health response.”

Understanding patterns of SARS-CoV-2 transmission within communities can help clinicians develop better ways to reduce infections and refine estimates from transmission models. The new VUMC study has minimal selection criteria, includes all age groups and follows enrolled families daily for at least 14 days. To be enrolled, at least one member of the household must have experienced COVID-19 disease onset within the past seven days.

The study hopes to follow 200 families, and the group has already enrolled 18 families, Grijalva said. The data collected is being continuously shared with the CDC.