Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS FEATURE

Superspreading drives the COVID pandemic — and could help to tame it

Uneven transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has had tragic consequences — but also offers clues for how best to target control measures.
  1. Dyani Lewis

    1. Dyani Lewis is a freelance science journalist in Melbourne, Australia.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Customers drink and ear in a busy bar in Minnesota while sports are shown on screens

Restaurants and other crowded indoor spaces are prime spots for superspreading events, in which one person passes the virus to many others. Credit: Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune/Getty

On 5 December last year — the eve of traditional Christmas gift-giving in Belgium — residents of the Hemelrijck care home near Antwerp were treated to a visit by Sinterklaas, or Santa. But the festive event, intended to spread cheer, turned tragic. Forty staff members and more than 100 residents — at least 26 of whom have since died — were unintentionally infected with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 by the costumed volunteer, who also subsequently tested positive.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 590, 544-546 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00460-x

References

  1. Liu, Y., Eggo, R. M. & Kucharski, A. J. Lancet 395, E47 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Endo, A. et al. Wellcome Open Res. 5, 67 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Volz, E. et al. Preprint at medRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.30.20249034 (2021).

  4. Lemieux, J. E. et al. Preprint at medRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.23.20178236 (2020).

  5. Asadi, S. et al. Sci. Rep. 9, 2348 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Mürbe, D. et al. Preprint at https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-10375.3 (2020).

  7. Viner, R. M. et al. JAMA Paediatr. 175, 143–156 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Edwards, D. A. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2021830118 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Prentiss, M., Chu, A. & Berggren, K. K. Preprint at medRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.21.20216895 (2020).

  10. Chang, S. et al. Nature 589, 82–87 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Lau, M. S. Y. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 117, 22430–22435 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Endo, A. et al. Wellcome Open Res. 5, 239 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

  • Associate or Senior Editor, Humanities and Social Sciences

    As an Editor, you will support the Chief Editor in managing the Editorial Board and editorial decision-making processes across the journal.

    Heidelberg, London or Pune – Hybrid working model

    Springer Nature Ltd

  • Southeast University Future Technology Institute Recruitment Notice

    Professor openings in mechanical engineering, control science and engineering, and integrating emerging interdisciplinary majors

    Nanjing, Jiangsu (CN)

    Southeast University, China

  • W2-Professur für Integrative Zoologie der Invertebraten

    At the Faculty of Biological Sciences of Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany a   W2 Professorship for Integrative Zoology of Invertebrates ...

    Jena, Thüringen (DE)

    Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

  • W3-Professur für Pharmazeutische Biologie

    The Faculty of Biological Sciences at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany invites applications for a   W3 Professorship for Pharmaceuti...

    Jena, Thüringen (DE)

    Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

  • Scientist, RNA Genomics

    The lab of Computational Transcriptomics at the Genome Institute of Singapore is offering a position for a postdoctoral fellow.

    Singapore (SG)

    Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links