1. Pre-admission virus detection during the COVID-19 pandemic in children with and without symptoms of infection.
- Author
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Bennet R, Rinder MR, George E, Hertting O, Luthander J, Åkefeldt SO, Hammas B, Allander T, and Eriksson M
- Subjects
- Humans, Infant, Child, Preschool, Child, Retrospective Studies, Male, Female, Adolescent, Emergency Service, Hospital statistics & numerical data, Pandemics, Infant, Newborn, COVID-19 epidemiology, COVID-19 diagnosis, Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections epidemiology, Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections diagnosis, Influenza, Human diagnosis, Influenza, Human epidemiology, Influenza, Human virology
- Abstract
Aim: Pre-admission viral screening is used only in exceptional situations such as pandemics. We therefore evaluated pre-admission screening for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza during the COVID-19 pandemic, comparing epidemiology and clinical features of admitted children., Methods: Children were screened at a paediatric emergency department from 1 March 2020 to 30 June 2022 by nasopharyngeal sampling and polymerase chain reaction kit. We retrospectively retrieved positive results from the laboratory and scrutinised charts of admitted children., Results: Out of 15 927 screened children, 522, 127 and 572 were positive and admitted with RSV, influenza A or SARS-CoV-2, respectively. Of these, 29 (5.6%), 26 (24.1%) and 245 (44.8%) were incidental findings, lacking symptoms of infection. RSV and influenza A were initially absent but re-emerged in the autumn of 2021. The rate of COVID-19 rose when the Omicron variant emerged in December 2021. The median age of children with RSV was 0.3 years, of those with influenza A 6.7 years and of those with COVID-19 1.6 years. Major complications were rare., Conclusion: Frequent incidental detections of SARS-CoV-2 likely reflected widespread presence of a mild infection. Clinically, COVID-19 was like other viral respiratory infections in children., (© 2024 The Authors. Acta Paediatrica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation Acta Paediatrica.)
- Published
- 2024
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