Systematic Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Screening at Hospital Admission in Children: A French Prospective Multicenter Study
Julie Poline, Jean Gaschignard, Claire LeBlanc, Fouad Madhi, Elsa Foucaud, Elodie Nattes, Albert Faye, Stéphane Bonacorsi, Patricia Mariani, Emmanuelle Varon, Mounira Smati-Lafarge, Marion Caséris, Romain Basmaci, Noémie Lachaume, Naïm Ouldali
Abstract
To assess the relevance of systematic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) screening of all children admitted to hospital, we conducted a prospective multicenter study including 438 consecutive hospitalized children. A symptom-based SARS-CoV-2 testing strategy failed to identify 45% (95% confidence interval, 24%-68%) of hospitalized children infected by SARS-CoV-2. To limit intrahospital transmission, a systematic screening of children admitted to hospital should be considered.
Topics & Concepts
MedicineConfidence intervalSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)PediatricsProspective cohort studyCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)CoronavirusMulticenter study2019-20 coronavirus outbreakSevere acute respiratory syndromeEmergency medicineIntensive care medicineInternal medicineDiseaseVirologyRandomized controlled trialInfectious disease (medical specialty)OutbreakCOVID-19 Clinical Research StudiesRespiratory viral infections researchSARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research