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

BackgroundSARS-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.MethodsWe assessed the feasibility of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 self-testing with antig...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Andreu Colom-Cadena, Héctor Martínez-Riveros, Anna Bordas, Lucia Alonso-García, Marcos Montoro-Fernández, Pol Romano-deGea, Josep Vidal-Alaball, Elisabet Solà-Segura, Josep M. Llibre, Boris Revollo, Jordi Casabona, Cristina Agustí
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-01-01
Series:Frontiers in Pediatrics
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2022.975454/full
Description
Summary:BackgroundSARS-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.MethodsWe assessed the feasibility of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 self-testing with antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests in attendees of educational settings.ResultsA 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”.ConclusionThe 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.
ISSN:2296-2360