Background: Since the beginning of the pandemic, children's role in the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been debated. We aimed to describe the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic children undergoing institutional systematic screening.
Methods: From 2020 to 2021, this retrospective study in a French university hospital included consecutive asymptomatic children routinely screened for SARS-CoV-2 infection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay before surgery.
Results: Among the 816 test samples, the prevalence of positive PCR results was 0.49 % (95 % CI: 0.01-0.97, n = 4); half of the cases involved close contacts with an adult case.
Conclusion: These results support the low prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic children during the first pandemic periods in France.
Keywords: Asymptomatic infection; COVID-19; Children; SARS-CoV-2 infection; Systematic screening.
Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.