RESUMO
Testing for SARS-CoV-2 is central to COVID-19 management. Rapid antigen test from self-collected anterior nasal swabs (SCANS-RAT) are often used in children but their performance have not been assessed in real-life. We aimed to compare this testing method to the two methods usually used: reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction from nasopharyngeal swabs collected by healthcare workers (HCW-PCR) and rapid antigen test from nasopharyngeal swabs collected by healthcare workers (HCW-RAT), estimating the accuracy and acceptance, in a pediatric real-life study. From September 2021 to January 2022, we performed a manufacturer-independent cross-sectional, prospective, multicenter study involving 74 pediatric ambulatory centers and 5 emergency units throughout France. Children ≥6 months to 15 years old with suggestive symptoms of COVID-19 or children in contact with a COVID-19-positive patient were prospectively enrolled. We included 836 children (median 4 years), 774 (92.6%) were symptomatic. The comparators were HCW-PCR for 267 children, and HCW-RAT for 593 children. The sensitivity of the SCANS-RAT test compared to HCW-RAT was 91.3% (95%CI 82.8; 96.4). Sensitivity was 70.4% (95%CI 59.2; 80.0) compared to all HCW-PCR and 84.6% (95%CI 71.9; 93.1) when considering cycle threshold <33. The specificity was always >97%. Among children aged ≥6 years, 90.9% of SCANS-RAT were self-collected without adult intervention. On appreciation rating (from 1, very pleasant, to 10, very unpleasant), 77.9% of children chose a score ≤3. SCANS-RAT have good sensitivity and specificity and are well accepted by children. A repeated screening strategy using these tests can play a major role in controlling the pandemic.
RESUMO
The above article originally published with an error present in the abstract section.
RESUMO
A prospective, observational, survey of pediatricians and general practitioners (GPs) was conducted to assess pediatric vaccination knowledge and practices. The survey was distributed by email to 1069 pediatricians and 1700 GPs and completed by 151 pediatricians (14.1%) and 201 GPs (11.8%). Knowledge of the vaccination calendar was very good (99% overall). Of the respondents, 98% were confident in vaccine efficacy. Eight-one percent of pediatricians and 62% of GPs agreed that recommended vaccinations should become obligatory; all prescribed hexavalent vaccines often or always. More pediatricians (88%) than GPs (75%) used anti-pyretics; the use of anesthetic cream/patches was similar in each group (79% and 75%, respectively). The ambience at vaccination was considered to be important by both groups, and was disturbed in 37% of cases. Seventy percent of pediatricians and 57% of GPs agreed that vaccine reconstitution (e.g., Hib pellet) is a complicating factor: overall, 28% reported occasionally omitting to reconstitute a pentavalent or hexavalent vaccine in error, and 60% reported having not fully reconstituted the vaccine. Almost all (93%) considered non-reconstitution as an important error.Conclusion: Overall, adherence to good vaccination practices was good, although errors in reconstitution were reported by physicians. These problems would be minimized by wider use of fully liquid vaccines. What is Known: ⢠Pediatric vaccination schedules are crowded. ⢠Good vaccination practices and the use of multivalent vaccines are essential to maintain good compliance to pediatric vaccination recommendations. What is New: ⢠Overall good compliance to good vaccination practices by both pediatricians and GPs in France. ⢠Omission of pentavalent or hexavalent vaccine reconstitution of Hib pellet and incomplete reconstitution reported by pediatricians/GPs. Awareness of pediatricians/GPs that omission and incomplete reconstitution are important errors.