Asymptomatic COVID-19 Presentation in Children: Should We Screen?
| Main Authors: | Kuan Pei Xuan, Denisa Khoo, Karisha Sivam, Nurul Ain Naim, Ong Li Teng, See Kwee Ching, Kalaiarasu M. Peariasamy |
|---|---|
| Format: | Proceeding poster Journal |
| Bahasa: | eng |
| Terbitan: |
, 2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/5354652 |
Daftar Isi:
- Introduction Children infected with SARS-CoV-2 are usually asymptomatic but potentially infective. Transmission of the virus within school settings can impact the level of community transmission through onward spread from children to adults. More data is needed to understand the clinical manifestations and role of children in transmitting this disease. Methodology We describe the clinical presentations, laboratory findings, including serial saliva samplings and outcomes of a group of five children who were managed at a designated COVID-19 centre in Malaysia. Results We have included five children with ages ranging from 5 to 8 years (3 males, 2 females) who were asymptomatic at admission into our study. Four had positive contact with a COVID-19 family member whilst one had positive travelling abroad history. Laboratory findings confirmed all were tested positive for Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) from the nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) taken. We collected serial saliva samplings for disease monitoring and found out that two out of five children had positive RT-PCR detected (cyclic threshold, Ct. value ranging from 26.05 to 35.92). Despite these, all of them were asymptomatic throughout the whole duration of hospitalisation and discharged home after being admitted for 6 to 11 days. Conclusion The recent spike in the number of school clusters calls into question the effectiveness of the current intervention measures in school settings. Schools can benefit from using the child-friendly approach of randomised sequential testing saliva specimens to screen for asymptomatic COVID-19 presentation in children. [Disclaimer: Abstract text might vary slightly from what is displayed in the e-poster]
- This poster was submitted to the 14th National Conference for Clinical Research (NCCR) in August 18-20, 2021. https://nccrconference.com.my/