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Implementation and Performance of a Point-of-Care COVID-19 Test Program in 4000 California Schools.
Chloe Le Marchand1, Kyle Rizzo1, Robert Nakamura2
1Center for Infectious Disease, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA.
The Journal of Pediatrics
|June 30, 2024
Summary
School COVID-19 antigen testing is feasible and accurate, with personnel performing tests yielding reliable results. This program offers a model for managing future infectious disease outbreaks in educational settings.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Infectious Disease Surveillance
- Clinical Diagnostics
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated rapid implementation of widespread testing strategies.
- School environments presented unique challenges for testing due to large populations and logistical complexities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the feasibility and accuracy of a novel, school-based COVID-19 antigen testing program.
- To evaluate the performance of antigen tests when administered by school personnel.
Main Methods:
- A descriptive report analyzed a point-of-care, school-based antigen testing program in California (August 2021-May 2022).
- Participants included over 944,000 students, personnel, and community members across 4,022 schools.
- Abbott BinaxNOW antigen tests were compared against Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for sensitivity and specificity.
Main Results:
- Overall antigen test sensitivity was 81.2% and specificity was 99.6% compared to PCR.
- During peak prevalence (Jan-Mar 2022), positive and negative predictive values were 94.7% and 94.2%, respectively.
- Over 3.9 million antigen tests were performed, identifying 135,163 positive cases (14.3% of individuals tested).
Conclusions:
- Implementing large-scale, school-based antigen testing programs is feasible.
- Self-swabbing and testing by school personnel provide accurate diagnostic results.
- This model serves as a framework for future infectious disease control in schools.
