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, studies immune responses, and assesses the social and economic consequences of respiratory illnesses.

The PREVENT study includes three components, or parts. Each component lasts a different amount of time and includes different activities. 

The Community Testing component provides no-cost convenient COVID-19, Flu, and RSV testing to anyone in the community. 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 study. We plan to enroll about 2,000 adults and children from 4 age groups, with equal numbers of participants from each group: <5 years, 5–17 years, 18–59 years, and ≥60 years. The goal of this component is to understand which respiratory viruses are in the community and causing respiratory infections in San Diego County. 

What will participants do in this component?  

• Participants will fill out weekly symptom surveys. If a participant reports new symptoms, they will be asked to collect and drop off a nasal swab to test for a respiratory infection. They will also be asked to fill out surveys that will help us learn about symptoms, missing work or school, and how they are being treated for their illness.  
• Some participants will be invited to participate in additional activities to look at their immune system’s response to an infection, which may include blood and saliva and/or nasal fluid sample collection.  

The Household Transmission component will include about 100-150 households per year. It will start when one or more members of a household are diagnosed with an acute respiratory infection caused by a virus or bacteria. The overall goal of this component is to determine the factors that increase and decrease the risk of getting infected by a sick household member. 

What will participants do in this component?  

• All participating household members will be asked to fill out a short symptom survey and collect a nasal swab each day for 2 weeks. 
• Blood samples will be collected at enrollment and one month after enrollment. Saliva and nasal fluid samples may also be collected. 

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 will be providing important public health information about respiratory infections.

Participation is voluntary, confidential, and designed to fit into your daily life with minimal effort. Your involvement is important to advancing scientific knowledge and improving community health.  

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 will be asked to collect a nasal swab, and we will test it for COVID-19, Flu, RSV, and other respiratory infections.  
• We will provide instructions for how to: 
  •  Request a test kit 
  • Pick up a test kit from a vending machine 
  • Self-collect a nasal swab 
  • Return your sample for PCR testing 
• You will be notified when your test results are available on our PREVENT website app.
• You may also be invited to participate in other PREVENT components.

No long-term commitment.  

No compensation will be provided.  

If you are invited and agree to be part of the Ongoing Testing component: 

• You will be asked to complete a longer survey at enrollment, including a follow-up survey at least once per year with questions about your health, education, and employment. We may ask you to complete additional short surveys if more information is needed.  
• 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. 
• You will be asked to complete short weekly 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.

If you are eligible and agree to participate in our immunology sub-study, we will ask you to provide: 

• Blood and saliva and/or nasal fluid samples at enrollment and each year before and after each respiratory season 
• Additional samples if you become sick or receive an immunization, 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 2–5-year commitment. 

Compensation will be provided.

If you are invited and agree to be part of the Household Transmission component: 

• You will be asked to complete several surveys in the following order: 
  • One on the day you start the household transmission study
  • A short symptom survey daily for two weeks
  • One longer follow-up survey after two weeks in the household 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 – when you start household transmission study, and again about a month later.

 One-month commitment

Compensation will be provided.

How will your nasal swab samples be collected?

We will provide you with instructions on how to collect your 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/guardian supervision, or your parent/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/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.