Reducing Respiratory Virus Transmission in Bangladeshi Classrooms

NCT ID: NCT06247059

Last Updated: 2025-04-02

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 20000 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-10-31
• Study Completion Date: 2027-01-31

Brief Summary

This study will test if affordable air cleaning devices (box fans with a filter attached and/or ultraviolet light lamps) installed in classrooms can reduce the number of viral respiratory illnesses schoolchildren experience.

Detailed Description

This cluster-randomized controlled trial in Bangladesh schools will examine whether low-cost air filtration and/or human-safe ultraviolet germicidal light interventions can reduce the incidence of schoolchildren's respiratory viral infections. The main study objectives are:

1. Pilot and optimize an intervention to filter classroom air.

2. Pilot and optimize an intervention to treat classroom air with ultraviolet light.

3. Assess the separate and combined effect of air filtration and ultraviolet light on the incidence of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) confirmed illness from respiratory viruses.

Methods: The study will take place in 60 government primary schools in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Within each enrolled school, 5 classrooms of students in grades 3, 4 and 5 will be randomly assigned to receive:

1. Box fans with a filter attachment.

2. 220 nanometer (nm) wavelength ultraviolet light air cleaner lamps.

3. Both the box fans with a filter and the 220 nm ultraviolet lamps.

4. No device: a control group that receives no additional device ("standard of care"). Two classrooms within each school will be assigned as controls.

Why does this matter?: Clarifying the impact of low-cost practical solutions could support the adoption of these strategies that could reduce influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission in schools in order to reduce the burden of respiratory illness in these communities.

Conditions

SARS-CoV2 Infection; Influenza Viral Infections; Respiratory Viral Infection

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Box Fan

Classrooms receive box fans equipped with a filter.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Box Fan

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Classrooms assigned to this arm will be equipped with 2 - 8 box fans each with a single minimum efficiency reporting value-14 (MERV-14) filter sufficient to increase effective air changes per hour to 12 based on the clean air delivery rate measured in cubic feet per minute of the box fan + filter \* 60 divided by the room volume.

UV Germicidal Irradiation Lamp Unit

Classrooms receive UV germicidal irradiation lamp unit(s).

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

UV Germicidal Irradiation Lamp Unit

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Classrooms assigned to this arm will be equipped with one or two 222nm wavelength light ultraviolet germicidal irradiation lamp units (number of units per classroom based on room volume).

Combined: Box Fan and UV Germicidal Irradiation Lamp Units

Classrooms receive box fans equipped with a filter and UV germicidal irradiation lamp unit(s).

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Combined: Box Fan and UV Germicidal Irradiation Lamp Units

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Classrooms assigned to this arm will be equipped with both box fans and UV germicidal irradiation lamp units.

Non-Interventional Control

Classrooms receive no intervention to their standard classroom setup.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Box Fan

Classrooms assigned to this arm will be equipped with 2 - 8 box fans each with a single minimum efficiency reporting value-14 (MERV-14) filter sufficient to increase effective air changes per hour to 12 based on the clean air delivery rate measured in cubic feet per minute of the box fan + filter \* 60 divided by the room volume.

Intervention Type: DEVICE

UV Germicidal Irradiation Lamp Unit

Classrooms assigned to this arm will be equipped with one or two 222nm wavelength light ultraviolet germicidal irradiation lamp units (number of units per classroom based on room volume).

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Combined: Box Fan and UV Germicidal Irradiation Lamp Units

Classrooms assigned to this arm will be equipped with both box fans and UV germicidal irradiation lamp units.

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Schoolchildren of Bangladesh Government-run primary schools in Dhaka, Bangladesh ages 9 - 12 years, of all gender identifiers (male, female, transgender, prefer not to designate), without specific ethnic selection amongst standard school children of Bangladesh government schools in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Exclusion Criteria

• School children of non-Bangladesh Government-run primary schools and/or schoolchildren who do not attend a Bangladesh Government-run primary school in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• School children who are not able to or have a contraindication with the ability to comply with study procedures.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 9 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 12 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Stanford University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Stephen P Luby

Professor of Medicine

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Stephen P Luby, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Stanford University

Central Contacts

Mahbubur Rahman

Role: CONTACT

Mahbubr@icddrb.org

+88 02 2222 77 001-10 ext. 4003

Other Identifiers

73657

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id