Is Symptom Screening Useful for Identifying COVID-19 Infection in School Settings? Georgia, USA

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Sch Nurs
• Personal Author:
  Swanson, Megan ; Hast, Marisa ; Burnett, Eleanor ; Oraka, Emeka ; Kimball, Anne ; Morris, Elana ; Marcet, Paula L. ; Almendares, Olivia ; Franklin, Rachel ; Mehari, Lemlem ; McCloud, Jazmyn ; Kirking, Hannah L. ; Tate, Jacqueline E. ; Scott, Colleen
• Description:
  This study's goal was to characterize the utility of symptom screening in staff and students for COVID-19 identification and control of transmission in a school setting. We conducted a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data for staff, students and associated household members in a Georgia school district exposed to COVID-19 cases who received RT-PCR testing and symptom monitoring. Among positive contacts, 30/49 (61%) of students and 1/6 (17%) of staff reported no symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Symptom sensitivity was 30% in elementary students and 42% in middle/high students. Fifty-three percent (10/19) of symptomatic positive contacts had at least one household member test positive for SARS-CoV-2 compared with 50% (10/20) of asymptomatic positive contacts. The absence of symptoms in children is not indicative of a lack of SARS-CoV-2 infection or reduced risk of infection for associated household members. Testing all close contacts of people with COVID-19 in schools is needed to interrupt transmission networks.
• Subjects:
  Child COVID-19 Cross-Sectional Studies Humans SARS-CoV-2 Schools
• Source:
  J Sch Nurs. 37(6):503-512
• Pubmed ID:
  34612108
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC8911526
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia
• Volume:
  37
• Issue:
  6
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:cd351d2d21a52d9e79b59dad5c8c83a666bf7b7ab7346d3fccf18afa6cc864c1
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/115366/cdc_115366_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 630.30 KB ]