tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Antimicrob Resist Infect Control
. 2021 Feb 27;10(1):44.
doi: 10.1186/s13756-021-00912-z.
Systematic screening on admission for SARS-CoV-2 to detect asymptomatic infections
Rahel N Stadler[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Laura Maurer[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lisandra Aguilar-Bultet[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Fabian Franzeck[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Chantal Ruchti[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Richard K?hl[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Andreas F Widmer[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ruth Schindler[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Roland Bingisser[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Katharina M Rentsch[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Hans Pargger[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Raoul Sutter[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Luzius Steiner[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Christoph Meier[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Werner K?bler[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Hans H Hirsch[SUP] 1 7 8 [/SUP], Adrian Egli[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Manuel Battegay[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Stefano Bassetti[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Sarah Tschudin-Sutter[SUP] 11 12 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
The proportion of asymptomatic carriers of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains elusive and the potential benefit of systematic screening during the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic is controversial. We investigated the proportion of asymptomatic inpatients who were identified by systematic screening for SARS-CoV-2 upon hospital admission. Our analysis revealed that systematic screening of asymptomatic inpatients detects a low total number of SARS-CoV-2 infections (0.1%), questioning the cost-benefit ratio of this intervention. Even when the population-wide prevalence was low, the proportion of asymptomatic carriers remained stable, supporting the need for universal infection prevention and control strategies to avoid onward transmission by undetected SARS-CoV-2-carriers during the pandemic.
Keywords: Asymptomatic carriers; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Screening.
. 2021 Feb 27;10(1):44.
doi: 10.1186/s13756-021-00912-z.
Systematic screening on admission for SARS-CoV-2 to detect asymptomatic infections
Rahel N Stadler[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Laura Maurer[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lisandra Aguilar-Bultet[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Fabian Franzeck[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Chantal Ruchti[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Richard K?hl[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Andreas F Widmer[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ruth Schindler[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Roland Bingisser[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Katharina M Rentsch[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Hans Pargger[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Raoul Sutter[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Luzius Steiner[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Christoph Meier[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Werner K?bler[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Hans H Hirsch[SUP] 1 7 8 [/SUP], Adrian Egli[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Manuel Battegay[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Stefano Bassetti[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Sarah Tschudin-Sutter[SUP] 11 12 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 33640031
- DOI: 10.1186/s13756-021-00912-z
Abstract
The proportion of asymptomatic carriers of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains elusive and the potential benefit of systematic screening during the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic is controversial. We investigated the proportion of asymptomatic inpatients who were identified by systematic screening for SARS-CoV-2 upon hospital admission. Our analysis revealed that systematic screening of asymptomatic inpatients detects a low total number of SARS-CoV-2 infections (0.1%), questioning the cost-benefit ratio of this intervention. Even when the population-wide prevalence was low, the proportion of asymptomatic carriers remained stable, supporting the need for universal infection prevention and control strategies to avoid onward transmission by undetected SARS-CoV-2-carriers during the pandemic.
Keywords: Asymptomatic carriers; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Screening.