Data for Infection patterns of endemic human coronaviruses in rural households in coastal Kenya

Methods

In rural Kenya 483 individuals from 47 households were followed for six months (2009-10) with nasopharyngeal swabs collected twice weekly regardless of symptoms. A total of 16,918 swabs were tested for human coronavirus (hCoV) OC43, NL63 and 229E and other respiratory viruses using polymerase chain reaction. Results: From 346 (71.6%) household members, 629 hCoV infection episodes were defined, with 36.3% being symptomatic: varying by hCoV type and decreasing with age.

Symptomatic episodes (aHR=0.6 (95% CI:0.5-0.8) or those with elevated peak viral load (medium aHR=0.4 (0.3-0.6); high aHR=0.31 (0.2-0.4)) had longer viral shedding compared to their respective counterparts. Homologous reinfections were observed in 99 (19.9%) of 497 first infections. School-age children (55%) were the most common index cases with those having medium (aOR=5.3 (2.3 – 12.0)) or high (8.1 (2.9 - 22.5)) peak viral load most often generating secondary cases.

Conclusion: Household coronavirus infection was common, frequently asymptomatic and mostly introduced by school-age children. Secondary transmission was influenced by viral load of index cases. Homologous-type reinfection was common.

These data may be insightful for SARS-CoV-2.<br><br>Data record consists of data description, STATA analysis code, supplementary figures in PDF format, and the raw data archive, which is restricted access. This dataset is part from a cohort study conducted in rural coastal Kenya between December 2009 and June 2020. The study recruited 47 households, each with an infant, containing 483 members. nasopharyngeal samples were taken from study participants every 3-4 days and screened for 3 hCoVs (OC43, NL63 and 229E) and several other respiratory viral pathogens using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).