TY - JOUR
T1 - Utilization and Impact of Symptomatic and Exposure SARS-CoV-2 Testing in K-12 Schools
AU - Schuster, Jennifer E.
AU - Erickson, Tyler R.
AU - Goldman, Jennifer L.
AU - Benjamin, Daniel K.
AU - Alan Brookhart, M.
AU - Dewhurst, Stephen
AU - Fist, Alex
AU - Foxe, John
AU - Godambe, Maya
AU - Gwynn, Lisa
AU - Kiene, Susan M.
AU - Mast, Dana Keener
AU - McDaniels-Davidson, Corinne
AU - Newland, Jason G.
AU - Oren, Eyal
AU - Selvarangan, Rangaraj
AU - Shinde, Nidhi
AU - Walsh, Tyler
AU - Watterson, Treymayne
AU - Zand, Martin
AU - Zimmerman, Kanecia O.
AU - Kalu, Ibukunoluwa C.
N1 - Funding Information:
FUNDING: Research reported in this publication was supported by the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number U24MD016258. National Institutes of Health Agreement No.’s OT2HD107559, OT2 HD107557, OT2 HD107553, OT2 HD107555, OT2HD108111, OT2HD108112, and 3P0HD103525-03S1; the National Center for
Funding Information:
Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number U24TR001608; and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under contract HHSN275201000003I. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the NIH.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
PY - 2023/7
Y1 - 2023/7
N2 - OBJECTIVES: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that schools can offer severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) diagnostic (on-demand) testing for students and staff with coronavirus disease 2019 symptoms or exposures. Data related to the uptake, implementation, and effect of school-associated on-demand diagnostic testing have not been described. METHODS: The Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Underserved Populations Return to School program provided resources to researchers to implement on-demand SARS-CoV-2 testing in schools. This study describes the strategies used and uptake among the different testing programs. Risk of positivity was compared for symptomatic and exposure testing during the d and o variant periods. We estimated the number of school absence days saved with school-based diagnostic testing. RESULTS: Of the 16 eligible programs, 7 provided school-based on-demand testing. The number of persons that participated in these testing programs is 8281, with 4134 (49.9%) receiving >1 test during the school year. Risk of positivity was higher for symptomatic testing compared with exposure testing and higher during the o variant predominant period compared with the d variant predominant period. Overall, access to testing saved an estimated 13 806 absent school days. CONCLUSIONS: School-based on-demand SARS-CoV-2 testing was used throughout the school year, and nearly half the participants accessed testing on more than 1 occasion. Future studies should work to understand participant preferences around school-based testing and how these strategies can be used both during and outside of pandemics.
AB - OBJECTIVES: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that schools can offer severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) diagnostic (on-demand) testing for students and staff with coronavirus disease 2019 symptoms or exposures. Data related to the uptake, implementation, and effect of school-associated on-demand diagnostic testing have not been described. METHODS: The Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Underserved Populations Return to School program provided resources to researchers to implement on-demand SARS-CoV-2 testing in schools. This study describes the strategies used and uptake among the different testing programs. Risk of positivity was compared for symptomatic and exposure testing during the d and o variant periods. We estimated the number of school absence days saved with school-based diagnostic testing. RESULTS: Of the 16 eligible programs, 7 provided school-based on-demand testing. The number of persons that participated in these testing programs is 8281, with 4134 (49.9%) receiving >1 test during the school year. Risk of positivity was higher for symptomatic testing compared with exposure testing and higher during the o variant predominant period compared with the d variant predominant period. Overall, access to testing saved an estimated 13 806 absent school days. CONCLUSIONS: School-based on-demand SARS-CoV-2 testing was used throughout the school year, and nearly half the participants accessed testing on more than 1 occasion. Future studies should work to understand participant preferences around school-based testing and how these strategies can be used both during and outside of pandemics.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85163623490&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1542/peds.2022-060352I
DO - 10.1542/peds.2022-060352I
M3 - Article
C2 - 37394504
AN - SCOPUS:85163623490
SN - 0031-4005
VL - 152
JO - Pediatrics
JF - Pediatrics
M1 - e2022060352I
ER -