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. 2023 Jan 10:10:975454.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.975454. eCollection 2022.

Feasibility of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antigen self-testing in school and summer camp attendees

Andreu Colom-Cadena  1   2 , Héctor Martínez-Riveros  1   2   3 , Anna Bordas  1   2 , Lucia Alonso-García  1   2 , Marcos Montoro-Fernández  1 , Pol Romano-deGea  1   2 , Josep Vidal-Alaball  4   5   6 , Elisabet Solà-Segura  7 , Josep M Llibre  8 , Boris Revollo  8 , Jordi Casabona  1   2   9   10 , Cristina Agustí  1   9
Affiliations

Feasibility of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antigen self-testing in school and summer camp attendees

Andreu Colom-Cadena et al. Front Pediatr. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Background: SARS-CoV-2 screening is one of the pillars of non-pharmaceutical preventive strategies to early identify and isolate infected individuals and therefore decrease community incidence.

Methods: We assessed the feasibility of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 self-testing with antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests in attendees of educational settings.

Results: A total of 305 students (88.15%) and 41 staff (11.85%) from 9 to 56 years old participated in the self-testing procedure and answered the survey at the end of the study. 91.3% (n = 313) did not need help, 96.1% of participants reported the same outcome as the healthcare workers. 94.5% strongly or slightly agree with the statement "I would repeat the experience".

Conclusion: The study demonstrates that self-testing is acceptable and usable in children, adolescents and adults when the epidemiological situation may require a systematic screening of these populations, although supervision by health care or previously trained personnel is recommended for younger age groups.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2 antigen testing; acceptability and usability; school public health; self-testing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Summary of the total number of participants in the pilot study, Spain, N: 346. *Self-sampling: In school A, older pupils (15–16 years old) were trained beforehand to read the results of the other participants. ** Self-testing: In School B and summer camps, participants read the test result themselves, and the healthcare team validated the reliability.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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