Feasibility of studying respiratory infection transmission in a Swiss household cohort: Findings from the BEready (“Bern, get ready”) study - Takeaways - MDSpire
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Exploring the Viability of Investigating Respiratory Infection Spread in a Swiss Household Cohort: Insights from the BEready Study

  • By

  • Karin Grimm

  • Eva Maria Hodel

  • Lea Gasser

  • Simone Schuller

  • Selina Wegmüller

  • Ursula Magyar

  • Franziska Iff

  • Emily Lim

  • Lavinia Furrer

  • Pascal Bittel

  • Cédric Hirzel

  • Nicola Low

  • Gilles Wandeler

  • August 26, 2026

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  • 1

    The BEready pilot study enrolled 108 households in the canton of Bern to evaluate decentralized respiratory virus surveillance using self-collected samples.

  • 2

    During 152 respiratory illness events, 336 of 387 expected swabs (87%) were received, although 76 were excluded because of protocol breaches.

  • 3

    A respiratory virus was detected in 82 of 131 index-case samples with valid results (63%), and rhinovirus was the most frequently detected virus.

  • 4

    Viral positivity was 60% among swabs from symptomatic participants and 6% among swabs from asymptomatic participants.

  • 5

    Among 96 households responding to the acceptability survey, 70% agreed that nasal sampling was not unpleasant.

Original Source(s)

Feasibility of studying respiratory infection transmission in a Swiss household cohort: Findings from the BEready (“Bern, get ready”) study

  • by Karin Grimm, Eva Maria Hodel, Lea Gasser, Simone Schuller, Selina Wegmüller, Ursula Magyar, Franziska Iff, Emily Lim, Lavinia Furrer, Pascal Bittel, Cédric Hirzel, Nicola Low, Gilles Wandeler

  • August 26, 2026

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