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. 2022 Aug:153:105221.
doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2022.105221. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

Rapid syndromic testing for respiratory viral infections in children attending the emergency department during COVID-19 pandemic in Lille, France, 2021-2022

Mahdi Ouafi  1 , François Dubos  2 , Ilka Engelmann  1 , Mouna Lazrek  1 , Aurélie Guigon  1 , Laurence Bocket  1 , Didier Hober  1 , Enagnon Kazali Alidjinou  3
Affiliations

Rapid syndromic testing for respiratory viral infections in children attending the emergency department during COVID-19 pandemic in Lille, France, 2021-2022

Mahdi Ouafi et al. J Clin Virol. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: Viral respiratory infections are common in children, and usually associated with non-specific symptoms. Respiratory panel-based testing was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, for the rapid differentiation between SARS-CoV-2 and other viral infections, in children attending the emergency department (ED) of the teaching hospital of Lille, northern France, between February 2021 and January 2022.

Methods: Samples were collected using nasopharyngeal swabs. Syndromic respiratory testing was performed with two rapid multiplex molecular assays: the BioFire® Respiratory Panel 2.1 - plus (RP2.1 plus) or the QIAstat-Dx Respiratory SARS-CoV-2 Panel. SARS-CoV-2 variant was screened using mutation-specific PCR-based assays and genome sequencing.

Results: A total of 3517 children were included in the study. SARS-CoV-2 was detected in samples from 265 children (7.5%). SARS-CoV-2 infected patients were younger than those without SARS-CoV-2 infection (median age: 6 versus 12 months, p < 0.0001). The majority of infections (61.5%) were associated with the Omicron variant. The median weekly SARS-CoV-2 positivity rate ranged from 1.76% during the Alpha variant wave to 24.5% with the emergence of the Omicron variant. Most children (70.2%) were treated as outpatients, and seventeen patients were admitted to the intensive care unit. Other respiratory viruses were more frequently detected in SARS-CoV-2 negative children than in positive ones (82.1% versus 37.4%, p < 0.0001). Human rhinovirus/enterovirus and respiratory syncytial virus were the most prevalent in both groups.

Conclusions: We observed a low prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children attending pediatric ED, despite the significant increase due to Delta and Omicron variants, and an important circulation of other respiratory viruses. Severe disease was overall rare in children.

Keywords: Children; Emergency department; Respiratory viruses; SARS-CoV-2; Syndromic testing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig. 1
Distribution over time of SARS-CoV-2 infections.
Fig 2
Fig. 2
Distribution over time of Respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus/enterovirus and influenzavirus infections.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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