439 - SARS-CoV-2 Transmission and Outcomes at Ten Overnight Youth Summer Camps, United States and Canada, June-August 2022

Monday, May 1, 2023

9:30 AM – 11:30 AM ET

Poster Number: 439
Publication Number: 439.419

CLIFF NERWEN, Cohen Children's Medical Center, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Bronx, NY, United States; Michael SD. Agus, Harvard Medical School, Boston Children's Hospital, Newton, MA, United States; Alyse M.. Baron, Coastal Kids, Newport Beach, CA, United States; Sherri S. Cohen, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Adam C. Ehrlich, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Andrea Kasowitz, Camp Ramah in California, Los Angeles, CA, United States; Rachel L.. Kieffer, HolyName Medical Center, Teaneck, NJ, United States; Orly R. Klein, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, Palo Alto, CA, United States; Alison S. Levine, The Pediatric Center, Boulder, CO, United States; Philip T. Levy, Boston Children's Hospital, Brookline, MA, United States; Rachel H.. McDowell, Vituity, Riverwoods, IL, United States; Irene Moff, The Permanente Medical Group, Foster City, CA, United States; Tanya Wyman, University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, ON, Canada

Presenting Author(s)

CLIFF NERWEN, MD (he/him/his)

Attending Pediatrician
Cohen Children's Medical Center, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Bronx, New York, United States

Background: In 2021 this group reported successful Covid mitigation strategies for > 7000 adults and children at 9 overnight summer camps that included mandatory vaccination coverage for eligible individuals, pre-arrival and frequent screening testing, and creation of isolated bubble communities (MMWR 2021;70:1420–1424. https://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7040e1). The Covid circumstances of 2022 required a different set of strategies to enable a more normal summer camp experience, most notably operating open camp communities whereby campers, staff and guests could exit and return to campus.

Objective:

For the summer of 2022, our objectives were (1) to operate 10 overnight summer camps under routine summer conditions with open campuses; (2) quantify the prevalence of Covid cases; (3) minimize serious Covid infection outcomes.

Design/Methods:
This was a prospectively designed observational cohort of campers and staff members attending 10 overnight summer camps, June-August 2022. Covid vaccines were required for attendance and employment for all vaccine eligible community members. All those over the age of 12 were required to have received a Covid vaccine booster. All positive Covid tests were tracked utilizing a unique tracking tool for each camp; different camps adopted different approaches for testing symptomatic individuals, ranging from daily testing of those with symptoms to testing only those eligible for Covid antiviral therapies. Cumulative Covid incidence data was collected. Serious infection was defined as hospitalization.

Results: A total of 8,189 individuals (5,994 campers and 2,195 staff) attended 10 overnight youth summer camps. Greater than 99% of those eligible received both the primary Covid vaccines and boosters prior camp arrival. There were a total of 768 Covid cases (492 campers and 276 staff members) detected. Of the positive cases approximately 56% presented to the camp health center with symptoms, 34% were tested because of a close personal Covid exposure, and 10% were detected as a result of routine asymptomatic screening. There were two ED visits among these cases. There were no Covid related hospitalizations.

Conclusion(s):

This study demonstrates that implementation of high vaccination coverage coupled with multiple prevention strategies in the absence of isolated community bubbles are effective components that can mitigate serious Covid infection outcomes. These findings highlight important guiding principles for school and other youth-based Covid prevention protocols.