Abstract
Abstract
Objective:
Universal admission screening and follow-up symptom-based testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may play critical roles in controlling nosocomial transmission. We describe the performance of test strategies for inpatients and their companions during various disease incidences in Taiwan.
Design:
Retrospective population-based cohort study.
Setting:
The study was conducted across 476 hospitals in Taiwan.
Methods:
The data for both testing strategies by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for SARS-CoV-2 in newly admitted patients and their companions during May 2021—June 2022 were extracted and analyzed.
Results:
The positivity rate of universal admission screening was 0.76% (14,640 of 1,928,676) for patients and 0.37% (5,372 of 1,438,944) for companions. The weekly community incidences of period 1 (May 2021–June 2021), period 2 (July 2021–March 2022), and period 3 (April 2022–June 2022) were 6.57, 0.27, and 1,261, respectively, per 100,000 population. The positivity rates of universal admission screening for patients and companions (4.39% and 2.18%) in period 3 were higher than those in periods 1 (0.29% and 0.04%) and 2 (0.03% and 0.003%) (all P < .01). Among the 22,201 confirmed cases, 9.86% were identified by symptom-based testing. The costs and potential savings of universal admission screening for patients and companions achieved a breakeven point when the test strategy was implemented in a period with weekly community incidences of 27 and 358 per 100,000 population, respectively.
Conclusions:
Universal admission screening and follow-up symptom-based testing is important for reducing nosocomial transmission. Implementing universal admission screening at an appropriate time would balance the benefits with costs and potential unintended harms.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
Infectious Diseases,Microbiology (medical),Epidemiology
Cited by
1 articles.
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