Seattle Flu Study - Swab and Send: Study Protocol for At-Home Surveillance Methods to Estimate the Burden of Respiratory Pathogens on a City-Wide Scale

Introduction. While seasonal influenza and other respiratory pathogens cause significant morbidity and mortality each year, the community-based burden of these infections remains incompletely understood. Understanding the prevalence, epidemiology, and transmission dynamics of respiratory pathogen infections among community-dwelling individuals is essential during pandemic and epidemic settings and for developing pandemic-preparedness infrastructure. Methods and Analysis. We present the protocol for a novel, city-wide home-based cross-sectional study in the Seattle Metropolitan area, utilizing rapid delivery systems for self-collection of a nasal swab and return to the laboratory for respiratory pathogen testing. All participation takes place electronically, including recruitment, consent, and data collection. Within 48 hours of participants self-reporting respiratory symptoms, a nasal swab kit is delivered to the household via a courier service. Demographic and illness characteristics are collected at the time of sample collection and recovery and behavioral information collected one week later. Specimens are tested in the laboratory for multiple respiratory pathogens, and results are available on a public website for participants. Ethics and Dissemination. The study was approved by the University of Washington Institutional Review Board (Protocol #00006181). Results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, talks at conferences, and on the Study Website (www.seattleflu.org).