Screening for COVID-19 in Children Undergoing Elective Invasive Procedures

To report the frequency of asymptomatic infection with SARS-CoV-2 in pediatric patients undergoing invasive medical procedures in a tertiary pediatric hospital.

From June to October 2020, a SARS-CoV-2 real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) test was performed for all pediatric patients scheduled to undergo an elective invasive procedure. None of the patients was symptomatic. The cycle threshold (Ct) values of the ORF1ab gene were recorded for all patients.

A total of 700 patients were screened for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The median age was 5.7 y old. In total, 46.6% (n = 326) of the patients were male, and 53.4% (n = 374) were female. The most common underlying diseases were hemato-oncological (25.3%), gastrointestinal (24.9%), and genitourinary (10.3%). The main scheduled surgical-medical procedures were surgical treatment for acquired congenital diseases, biopsy sampling, local therapy administration, organ transplantation, and the placement of central venous catheters, among others. The SARS-CoV-2 rRT-PCR test was positive in 9.4% (66), and the median Ct value was 35.8. None of the patients developed COVID-19.

The frequency of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection was detected in less than 10% of pediatric patients scheduled to undergo an elective invasive procedure in a tertiary hospital. This frequency is higher than those in reports from different countries.