Design and implementation of a national SARS-CoV-2 monitoring program in England: REACT-1 Study

Journal article

Data System: The REal-time Assessment of Community Transmission-1 (REACT-1) Study was funded by the Department of Health and Social Care in England to provide reliable and timely estimates of prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection over time, by person and place.

Data Collection/Processing: The study team (researchers from Imperial College London and its logistics partner Ipsos) wrote to named individuals aged 5 years and older in random cross-sections of the population of England, using the National Health Service list of patients registered with a general practitioner (near-universal coverage) as a sampling frame. We collected data over 2 to 3 weeks approximately every month across 19 rounds of data collection from May 1, 2020, to March 31, 2022.

Data Analysis/Dissemination: We have disseminated the data and study materials widely via the study Web site, preprints, publications in peer-reviewed journals, and the media. We make available data tabulations, suitably anonymized to protect participant confidentiality, on request to the study’s data access committee.

Public Health Implications: The study provided inter alia real-time data on SARS-CoV-2 prevalence over time, by area, and by sociodemographic variables; estimates of vaccine effectiveness; and symptom profiles, and detected emergence of new variants based on viral genome sequencing.

Authors: Elliott, P; Whitaker, M; Tang, D; Eales, O; Steyn, N

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Public Health Association
• Journal: American Journal of Public Health
• Volume: 113
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 545–554
• Publication date: 2023-04-05
• Acceptance date: 2023-01-10
• DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2023.307230
• EISSN: 1541-0048
• ISSN: 0090-0036
• Language: English