Low yield of severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) asymptomatic routine screen testing, despite high community incidence

To the Editor—Serial asymptomatic screen testing of staff with reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) has been used in some jurisdictions as one strategy to help prevent severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreaks in high-risk settings.1 Results from other s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Infection control and hospital epidemiology 2022-10, Vol.43 (10), p.1527-1528
Main Authors: Kain, Dylan C., Stall, Nathan M., McGeer, Allison J., Evans, Gerald A., Allen, Vanessa G., Johnstone, Jennie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Asymptomatic
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 vaccines
Epidemics
Immunization
Letter to the Editor
Nursing
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
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Summary:To the Editor—Serial asymptomatic screen testing of staff with reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) has been used in some jurisdictions as one strategy to help prevent severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreaks in high-risk settings.1 Results from other serially screened populations during periods of low community SARS-CoV-2 incidence demonstrated very low percent positivity (25 per 100,000 population.4 Staff with a history of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were exempt from testing. [...]without reporting on previous COVID-19–compatible illness associated with this testing, positive cases may have in fact had recovered illness with prolonged viral RNA persistence. [...]staff in the study underwent serial symptomatic screening and screen testing and also had access to symptomatic testing.
ISSN:0899-823X
1559-6834
DOI:10.1017/ice.2021.304