Systematic screening on admission for SARS-CoV-2 to detect asymptomatic infections

Abstract

The proportion of asymptomatic carriers of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains elusive and the potential benefit of systematic screening during the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic is controversial. We investigated the proportion of asymptomatic inpatients who were identified by systematic screening for SARS-CoV-2 upon hospital admission. Our analysis revealed that systematic screening of asymptomatic inpatients detects a low total number of SARS-CoV-2 infections (0.1%), questioning the cost–benefit ratio of this intervention. Even when the population-wide prevalence was low, the proportion of asymptomatic carriers remained stable, supporting the need for universal infection prevention and control strategies to avoid onward transmission by undetected SARS-CoV-2-carriers during the pandemic.

Comparison of Blood Test Data Between Patients With COVID-19 and Influenza: a Retrospective Cross-sectional Survey in a Japanese University Hospital

“…Body temperature > 38.1°C was more frequent in patients with in uenza than in those with COVID-19. Many cases not involving fever have been reported in COVID-19 [33,34]. We believe that these ndings support our results.…”

Temporal trends of COVID-19 related in-hospital mortality and demographics in Switzerland – a retrospective single centre cohort study

“…In the general population, this may be the result of increased testing, and thus more frequent detection of mild cases. However, the testing strategy for symptomatic patients has not changed in our hospital and systematic in-hospital screenings of asymptomatic patients -albeit Original article increased over time -detected a very small number of asymptomatic cases, not explaining the decrease of in-hospital-mortality [19]. The experience and evidence with the treatment of COVID-19 patients since the beginning of the pandemic have increased tremendously, both on the scientific international level and on the local institutional level [20], and might have impacted mortality.…”

COVID-19 Screening for Hospitalized Patients: The Role of Expanded Hospital Surveillance in a Low Prevalence Setting

“…25 Universal COVID-19 screening for all hospitalized patients is a resource-intensive task, but it could sometimes still play a key role in limiting the spread from the community, given the inseparable connection between healthcare institutions and their neighboring communities. 26 Although the results of COVID-19 screening prior to hospitalization vary with its prevalence, [27][28][29][30][31][32] pre-hospital screening has been widely recommended. 27,28,[30][31][32] However, real-world data on the screening criteria for hospitalized patients remain scarce.…”