Abstract
Background: Universal admission screening for SARS-CoV-2 in children and their caregivers (CG) is critical to prevent hospital outbreaks. We evaluated pooled SARS-CoV-2 antigen tests (AG) to identify infectious individuals while waiting for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results.
Methods: This single-center study was performed from November 5, 2020 to March 1, 2021. Nasal mid-turbinate and oropharyngeal swabbing for AG and PCR testing was performed in children with 2 individual swabs that were simultaneously inserted. Nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from their CG. AG swabs were pooled in a single extraction buffer tube and PCR swabs in a single viral medium. Results from an adult population were used for comparison, as no pooled testing was performed.
Results: During the study period, 710 asymptomatic children and their CG were admitted. Pooled AG sensitivity and specificity was 75% and 99.4% respectively for detection of infectious individuals. Four false negatives were observed, though 3 out of 4 false negative child-CG pairs were not considered infectious at admission. Unpooled AG testing in an adult population showed a comparable sensitivity and specificity of 50% and 99.7%. AG performed significantly better in samples with lower Ct values in the corresponding PCR (32.3 vs 21, P-value < .001).
Conclusions: Pooled SARS-CoV-2 AGs are an effective method to identify potentially contagious individuals prior admission, without adding additional strain to the child.
Keywords: COVID-19; Hospital infection; Lateral flow test; Mid-turbinate.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Lateral flow test, Hospital infection, Mid-turbinate., 【초록키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, children, hospital, polymerase chain reaction, Outbreaks, PCR testing, PCR, Lateral flow test, Asymptomatic, Sensitivity and specificity, nasopharyngeal swabs, Child, Oropharyngeal, Swab, SARS-CoV-2 antigen, infectious, swabbing, Admission, Critical, False negative, Ct values, Turbinate, Chain Reaction, P-value, medium, individual, study period, PCR swab, single-center study, contagious, extraction buffer, Prevent, effective, polymerase chain, Result, identify, performed, significantly, evaluated, was performed, were used, comparable, individuals, Lateral, Universal, 【제목키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, pediatric, children, Screening, Asymptomatic, SARS-CoV-2 antigen,