Dataset Information

Results of Testing Children for SARS-CoV-2 through a Community-based Testing Site.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To describe the demographics, clinical features and test results of children referred from their primary provider for SARS-CoV-2 in the community setting.

Study design

Retrospective cross-sectional study of children ?22 years of age who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 at a community-based specimen collection site in Washington, DC affiliated with a large children's hospital between March 21 and May 16, 2020.

Results

Of the 1445 patients tested at the specimen collection site for SARS-CoV-2 virus, 408 (28.2%) had a positive PCR test. The daily positivity rate increased over the study period, from 5.4% during the first week to a peak of 47.4%. (P-trend <0.001). Patients with fever (aOR: 1.7; 95% CI 1.3, 2.3) or cough (aOR 1.4; 95% CI 1.1, 1.9) and those with known contact with someone with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (aOR: 1.6; 95% CI 1.0, 2.4.) were more likely have a positive test, but these features were not-highly discriminating.

Conclusions

In this cohort of mildly symptomatic or well children and adolescents referred to a community drive-through/walk-up SARS-CoV-2 testing site because of risk of exposure or clinical illness, one in four patients had a positive test. Children and young adults represent a considerable burden of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Assessment of their role in transmission is essential to implementing appropriate control measures.

SUBMITTER: Simpson JN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7831849 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Results of Testing Children for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 Through a Community-based Testing Site.

Simpson Joelle N JN Goyal Monika K MK Cohen Joanna S JS Badolato Gia M GM McGuire Mark M Ralph Abigail A Boyle Meleah D MD Hamburger Ellen K EK Gorman Kathleen C KC Cora-Bramble Denice D Delaney Meghan M

The Journal of pediatrics 20201222

<h4>Objective</h4>To describe the demographics, clinical features, and test results of children referred from their primary provider for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the community setting.<h4>Study design</h4>Retrospective cross-sectional study of children ≤22 years of age who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 at a community-based specimen collection site in Washington, DC, affiliated with a large children's hospital between March 21 and May 16, 2020.<h4>Results</h4>O ...[more]

PMID: 33347958

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Project description:BackgroundThe objective was to evaluate patterns of pediatric coronavirus disease 2019 testing in a large health system throughout the pandemic, before and after school reopening.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional time-series study of clinical virology results from children tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in Southern Connecticut and areas of New York and Rhode Island. Data collected include demographics, hospital admission, changes in percent positive tests over time, detection intervals in persistently positive children and cycle threshold values. The setting was the Yale New Haven Health System has 6 hospitals at 4 Connecticut locations, 1 hospital in Rhode Island and ambulatory locations in Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York. Participants included twenty-three-thousand one-hundred thirty-seven children ≤ 18 years of age, tested for coronavirus disease 2019 at an ambulatory testing site, the emergency department or on an inpatient unit within the Yale New Haven Health System.ResultsAmong all tests, 3.2% were positive. Older children consistently made up the larger portion of positive pediatric cases, regardless of community prevalence. Increased pediatric cases later in the pandemic when prevalence in adults was relatively low correlates with a higher number of tests performed in children and not with an increased positivity rate. No significant changes in trends of positivity were detected after the reopening of schools. Symptomatic and asymptomatic children had similar cycle threshold values regardless of age, and a subset of children demonstrated persistent viral detection, some for as long as 6 weeks.ConclusionAn increase in pediatric cases documented in the late summer was predominately due to increased access to testing for children. The percent positivity in children did not change in the first 3 weeks after school opened. A subset of children has detectable severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA in the upper respiratory tract for weeks after the initial infection.