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Household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand

Leaders

• Woottichai Khamduang, PhD Assistant Professor, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University,

• Chaisiri Angkurawaranon, MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine Chiang Mai University,

• Kittiphan Chalom, MD. Preventive Medicine (Epidemiology) Chiang Mai Provincial Health Office/Director of Chai Prakan Hospital,

• Arunee Thitithanyanont, MD Associate Professor, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University

• Nopporn Apiwattanakul, MD, PhD Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University

Background and Rationale

SARS-CoV-2 outbreak was first reported in the city of Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The WHO declared the virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020 and a pandemic on 11 March 2020. As of 1 March 2022, more than 578 million cases and 6.4 million deaths have been reported to WHO from all continents.The Thai partners in VERDI, Mahidol University and Chiang Mai University are both leading universities with accredited virology laboratories working to diagnose incident SARS CoV-2 infections in the community and are therefore ideally place to identify eligible participants to invite to participate in this study and enroll participants into this study. Both partners have the infrastructure and capacity to enroll, follow up study participants, securely collect, manage and analyze the data, collect transport and store samples and conduct sequencing of variants.

Primary Objectives

1) Assess the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in household members based on virological and serological evaluations, and disease symptoms

2) Estimate key transmission parameters of SARS-CoV-2 in Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

3) Identify SARS-CoV-2 variants at the beginning of each wave

4) Analyze associations between the characteristics described above and infection with different variants

CENMIG and Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, in collaboration with the Health Systems Research Institute and the VERDI Consortium, organized a workshop on “Modeling Infectious Disease Outbreaks Using Genomic Data” to build research capacity for future epidemic preparedness.

From June 30 to July 4, 2025, the Pornchai Matangkasombut Center for Microbial Genomics (CENMIG), together with the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, in collaboration with the Health System Research Institute and the VERDI Consortium, organized a hands-on workshop title “modeling infectious disease outbreaks using genomic data workshop”. This workshop aimed to enhance the capacity of Thai researchers in epidemiological modeling to better respond to the future infectious disease outbreaks. The event was held at the Faculty of Science, Mahidol University.

  • The workshop was designed to strengthen research capabilities in epidemiological modeling through lectures and hands-on practice, as well as foster knowledge exchange with international experts in mathematical modeling for epidemiological analysis from ISI Foundation, Italy, including: - Ciro Cattuto, Scientific Director - Daniela Paolotti, Senior Research Scientist in Digital Epidemiology - Nicolò Gozzi, Senior Research Scientist in Digital Epidemiology - Mattia Mazzoli, Postdoctoral Researcher in Digital Epidemiology
Session photo 1 Session photo 2

Photos from MU team (Unverified).

Enrollment in Thailand VERDI-RECOVER study Chiang Mai

Activities