Parental Coronavirus Disease 2019 Testing of Hospitalized Children: Rethinking Infection Control in a Pandemic
- PMID: 32856705
- PMCID: PMC7499684
- DOI: 10.1093/jpids/piaa103
Parental Coronavirus Disease 2019 Testing of Hospitalized Children: Rethinking Infection Control in a Pandemic
Abstract
Background: Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses a challenge to infection control within hospital systems. Asymptomatic children and their caretakers carry the risk of silently spreading infection in pediatric emergency departments and hospital units. Our current knowledge is evolving, and infection control measures are frequently changing depending on new emerging data.
Methods: We conducted a point-prevalence study to assess SARS-CoV-2 Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR) results of hospitalized children, their asymptomatic caretakers, and caretaker-child test concordance at a major community hospital in New York City. We screened Children and caretakers with temperature measurements and the presence of COVID-19 symptoms before pediatric emergency department evaluation. Children requiring hospitalization and their caretakers had nasopharyngeal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR. The paired results are used to identify the infection control level at the appropriate pediatric unit.
Results: Forty consecutive asymptomatic caretaker-child pairs had SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing between May 28th to June 22nd, 2020. The rate of asymptomatic COVID-19 was 2.5% in hospitalized children and 7.5% in caretakers. The caretaker-child SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test concordance was evident in 95% of the cohort.
Conclusion: This cohort had a low asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive rate in children and their caretakers with a high concordance rate of paired test results. It suggests that children's SARS-CoV-2 PCR test result will likely correspond to their accompanying caretaker at healthcare facilities where admission screening is performed.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2 real-time polymerase chain reaction; asymptomatic COVID-19; caretaker-child test concordance; children; novel coronavirus disease 2019; parents.
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Similar articles
-
Implementation of a Pooled Surveillance Testing Program for Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infections on a College Campus - Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, August 2-October 11, 2020.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020 Nov 20;69(46):1743-1747. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6946e1. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020. PMID: 33211678 Free PMC article.
-
The diagnostic methods in the COVID-19 pandemic, today and in the future.Expert Rev Mol Diagn. 2020 Sep;20(9):985-993. doi: 10.1080/14737159.2020.1816171. Epub 2020 Sep 16. Expert Rev Mol Diagn. 2020. PMID: 32845192 Review.
-
Outcomes of universal SARS-CoV-2 testing program in pregnant women admitted to hospital and the adjuvant role of lung ultrasound in screening: a prospective cohort study.J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2020 Nov;33(22):3820-3826. doi: 10.1080/14767058.2020.1798398. Epub 2020 Jul 28. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2020. PMID: 32691641
-
Comparison of Four Molecular In Vitro Diagnostic Assays for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Nasopharyngeal Specimens.J Clin Microbiol. 2020 Jul 23;58(8):e00743-20. doi: 10.1128/JCM.00743-20. Print 2020 Jul 23. J Clin Microbiol. 2020. PMID: 32341143 Free PMC article.
-
The Appropriate Use of Testing for COVID-19.West J Emerg Med. 2020 Apr 13;21(3):470-472. doi: 10.5811/westjem.2020.4.47370. West J Emerg Med. 2020. PMID: 32302278 Free PMC article. Review.
Cited by
-
SARS-CoV-2 in children and their accompanying caregivers: Implications for testing strategies in resource limited hospitals.Afr J Emerg Med. 2022 Sep;12(3):177-182. doi: 10.1016/j.afjem.2022.04.007. Epub 2022 Apr 25. Afr J Emerg Med. 2022. PMID: 35496826 Free PMC article.
-
The COVID-19 pandemic in children and young people during 2020-2021: Learning about clinical presentation, patterns of spread, viral load, diagnosis and treatment.J Glob Health. 2021 Dec 25;11:01010. doi: 10.7189/jogh.11.01010. eCollection 2021. J Glob Health. 2021. PMID: 35047182 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical
Miscellaneous