CoMMinS household study

As well as exploring Covid-19 transmission within schools, CoMMinS study researchers looked into how Covid-19 spreads within households. We asked people taking part in the CoMMinS Schools study if they, and their household members and close contacts, would be willing to provide saliva samples at home, twice weekly, for four weeks. This formed the CoMMinS Household study.

We invited people to take part if:

• They received a positive PCR test result through participation in the the CoMMinS Schools study, or and
• A household member of close contact of someone taking part in the Schools study (a pupil or school staff member) had received a confirmed positive test for Covid-19 within the past 5 days.

The study team delivered saliva test kits to all of the household members and close contacts who agreed to take part, to use at home, twice a week for four weeks, and asked them to complete some short questionnaires. The saliva samples were collected by courier, and tested in a University of Bristol research lab for Covid-19 infection.

The CoMMinS saliva test was easy to carry out; it did not involve swabs or needles, and had nothing to do with vaccines.

The following video provides more information about how we conducted the Household study.

Read our guidance on how to give a saliva sample (PDF, 179KB).

Please get in touch with the study team by emailing commins-household@bristol.ac.uk if you would like to find out more.