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. 2024 Apr;31(3):176-178.
doi: 10.1016/j.arcped.2023.09.019. Epub 2024 Feb 6.

Low SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in asymptomatic children during the first year of the pandemic: A French retrospective study

Béatrice De Pracontal  1 , Fleur Lorton  2 , Thomas Drumel  3 , Marianne Coste-Burel  3 , Elise Launay  2 , Christèle Gras Le Guen  2
Affiliations

Low SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in asymptomatic children during the first year of the pandemic: A French retrospective study

Béatrice De Pracontal et al. Arch Pediatr. 2024 Apr.

Abstract

Background: Since the beginning of the pandemic, children's role in the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been debated. We aimed to describe the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic children undergoing institutional systematic screening.

Methods: From 2020 to 2021, this retrospective study in a French university hospital included consecutive asymptomatic children routinely screened for SARS-CoV-2 infection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay before surgery.

Results: Among the 816 test samples, the prevalence of positive PCR results was 0.49 % (95 % CI: 0.01-0.97, n = 4); half of the cases involved close contacts with an adult case.

Conclusion: These results support the low prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic children during the first pandemic periods in France.

Keywords: Asymptomatic infection; COVID-19; Children; SARS-CoV-2 infection; Systematic screening.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest CGL received travel grants from Pfizer in 2018. For the remaining authors, no conflicts were declared.

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