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 Caseris; Romain Basmaci; Noémie Lachaume; Naïm Ouldali

doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa1044

Systematic Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Screening at Hospital Admission in Children: A French Prospective Multicenter Study

Clin Infect Dis. 2021 Jun 15;72(12):2215-2217. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1044.

Authors

Julie Poline^{1

2}, Jean Gaschignard^{1

3

4}, Claire Leblanc⁵, Fouad Madhi⁶, Elsa Foucaud⁵, Elodie Nattes⁶, Albert Faye^{1

4

7}, Stéphane Bonacorsi^{3

4

8}, Patricia Mariani⁸, Emmanuelle Varon^{9

10}, Mounira Smati-Lafarge⁹, Marion Caseris^{1

4}, Romain Basmaci^{3

11}, Noémie Lachaume^{4

11}, Naïm Ouldali^{1

4

7

12}

Affiliations

¹ Department of General Pediatrics, Pediatric Infectious Disease and Internal Medicine, Robert Debré University Hospital, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France.
² Université de Paris, Center for Research on Inflammation, Inserm Unité Mixte de Recherche1149, Paris, France.
³ Université de Paris, Infection, Antimicrobiens, Modélisation, Evolution, Inserm Unité mixte de Recherche1137, Paris, France.
⁴ Université de Paris, Unité de formation et de recherche de Médecine Paris Nord, Paris, France.
⁵ Department of General Pediatrics, Jean Verdier University Hospital, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Bondy, France.
⁶ Department of General Pediatrics, Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal de Créteil, Créteil, France.
⁷ Université de Paris, Inserm Unité mixte de recherche 1123, Épidémiologie Clinique, Évaluation économique appliquées aux populations Vulnérables, Paris, France.
⁸ Department of Microbiology, Robert Debré University Hospital, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France.
⁹ Department of Microbiology, Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal de Créteil, Créteil, France.
¹⁰ National Reference Center for Pneumococci, Créteil, France.
¹¹ Service de Pédiatrie-Urgences, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Louis-Mourier, Colombes, France.
¹² Association Clinique et Thérapeutique Infantile du Val-de-Marne, Créteil, France.

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.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2 infection; children; intra-hospital transmission; systematic screening.

Publication types

Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

COVID-19 Testing
COVID-19*
Child
Hospitals
Humans
Prospective Studies
SARS-CoV-2*