Study Information

PREVENT (Preparedness through Respiratory Virus Epidemiology and Community Engagement) is a large-scale research initiative designed to understand how respiratory viruses spread and impact communities. Funded by the CDC as part of the Community and Household Acute Respiratory Illness Monitoring (CHARM) Network, PREVENT tracks infections in real time, evaluates immune responses, and assesses the social and economic consequences of respiratory illnesses.

The PREVENT initiative includes three components and each component lasts a different amount of time and includes different study activities.

The Community Testing component is an event-based activity to provide convenient COVID-19, Flu, and RSV testing to the community. Participants will be able to register, retrieve a testing kit from one of our vending machines, self-collect a sample, return the sample for testing, and receive results through the PREVENT website app. Participants will be asked to complete a short survey about themselves and their household, and based on the information they provide or their test results, may be invited to participate in the Ongoing Testing or Household Transmission Components.   The goals of this component are to provide respiratory testing to the community and to recruit participants for other PREVENT components.

The Ongoing Testing component is a 5-year longitudinal cohort of an estimated 2,000 adults and children, with approximately equal enrollment in 4 age groups: <5 years, 5–17 years, 18–64 years, and ≥65 years. Participants in this cohort will undergo weekly symptom surveys. If these surveys reveal new symptoms, it will trigger symptomatic multi-pathogen testing and surveys capturing data on symptom characteristics, productivity losses, treatments, and medical care-seeking. Participants will complete additional surveys at enrollment and periodically during the study to capture data on health and medical history, sociodemographic factors, household characteristics, immunization history, along with knowledge, attitudes, and practices around public health interventions. A subset of participants will be invited to participate in an immunologic sub-study, which may include blood and saliva and/or nasal fluid samples based on respiratory pathogen seasonality, immunization, and acute infection and will help identify how prior infections, immune status, and vaccinations impact disease incidence and course. The over-arching goal of the component is to understand which respiratory pathogens are circulating in the community and causing respiratory infections in San Diego County.

The Household Transmission component is a case-ascertained household transmission study of an estimated 100–150 households per year. It will initiate when one or more members of a household are diagnosed with an acute infection of a respiratory pathogen of interest (e.g., RSV, influenza). Following this, all enrolled household participants will undergo two weeks of intensive (daily) nasal swabbing and symptom surveys, as well as blood and saliva and/or nasal fluid sample collections at enrollment and one month after enrollment. The over-arching goal of the component is to determine the risk factors for and protective factors against household transmission of these pathogens of interest.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us or read our FAQ. To learn more about the scientists behind PREVENT, check out our profiles here.

• You will have convenient access to testing for COVID-19, Flu, and RSV infection. 

• By participating you may also benefit others by providing important public health information about respiratory infections. 

Participation is voluntary, confidential, and designed to fit into your daily life with minimal effort. Whether you experience symptoms or stay healthy, your involvement is crucial to advancing scientific knowledge and improving community health. 

Here is what will happen to you if you decide  to be part of  the Community Testing component:

• You will be asked to complete a short survey about yourself, your health, and your household.  
• If you feel sick or  think you have been exposed to a respiratory infection, you can self-collect a nasal swab and we will test it for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19), Influenza (Flu), Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV),  and other germs that cause respiratory infections. 
  • We will provide instructions for how to request a testing kit, retrieve a testing kit from a vending machine, self-collect a sample, and return the sample for PCR testing.
  • You will be notified when your COVID-19, Flu, and RSV results are available on our PREVENT website app.
• You may also be invited to participate in other PREVENT components.  

Estimated participation commitment: no long-term commitment. 

No compensation will be provided. 

Here is what will happen to you if you are invited and agree to be part of the Ongoing Testing component: 

• We will ask you to complete a longer survey at enrollment and at least once per year that will include questions about your health, education, and employment. We may ask you to complete additional short surveys if we need more information about specific behaviors or health events.
• At enrollment you will be invited to provide a ‘baseline’ nasal swab to make sure it is easy for you to use the PREVENT website app to request a testing kit, retrieve a testing kit from a vending machine, self-collect a sample, and return the sample for PCR testing. You will also be invited to provide a dried blood spot.
• Every week you will be asked to complete short surveys about your health. If you report symptoms, we will ask you extra questions in the weeks after your illness and we will ask you to collect a nasal swab sample for testing.
• Some individuals will be invited to participate in an immunology sub-study. If you agree to be part of this sub-study we will ask you to provide blood and saliva and/or nasal fluid samples at enrollment and each year before and after respiratory season; and if you become sick or receive an immunization, we may ask you to provide additional samples depending on your age. We expect that we will only ask you to give blood and saliva and/or nasal fluid samples a maximum of four or five times per year.

Estimated participation commitment: 2-5 years.

Compensation will be provided.

Here is what will happen to you if you are invited and agree to be part of the Household Transmission component: 

• You will be asked to complete several surveys, one survey on the day you start the household transmission study, a short symptom survey each day for two weeks, and one longer follow-up survey after two weeks in the household transmission study.
• You will be asked to collect a nasal swab when you start the household transmission study, and each day for two weeks.
• We will ask you to give two blood and two saliva and/or nasal fluid samples – once when you start household transmission study, and again about a month later.

Estimated participation commitment: one-month.

Compensation will be provided.

How will your nasal swab samples be collected?

We will provide you with instructions on how to collect your nose swab sample. If you are an adult, you will collect your own nasal swabs. If you are 17 years old or younger, you can collect your own nasal swabs with your parent or guardian’s supervision, or your parent or guardian can collect the nasal swab for you.

How will your information be collected? 

You will complete your surveys online through the PREVENT website app.

Surveys can be completed on your own or with the help of a parent or guardian, other family member, or study staff. Answers to all surveys are entered into a secure electronic database. Your survey answers will be kept confidential. If we do not receive your survey, we might follow up with you by text, email, and/or phone.