Pediatric Infection and Vaccine

The Korean Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (대한소아감염학회)
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COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test Results in Preschool and School (March 2 to May 1, 2022)

유치원·학교 구성원의 코로나19 신속항원검사 결과(2022년 3월 2일부터 5월 1일까지)

  • Received : 2023.05.16
  • Accepted : 2024.01.11
  • Published : 2024.04.25
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Abstract

Purpose: In response to the surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) omicron variant cases, we have implemented preemptive testing for preschool and school. The purpose is to quickly detect COVID-19 cases using a rapid antigen test (RAT) kit so that normal school activities can continue. Methods: The results entered in The Healthcare Self-Test App were merged with the information on the status of confirmed cases in the COVID-19 Information Management System by Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) for preschool and school of students and staffs March 2 to May 1, 2022 to analyze the RAT positive rate and positive predictive value of RAT. Results: In preschool and school 19,458,575 people were tested, weekly RAT positive rate ranged from 1.10% to 5.90%, positive predictive value of RAT ranged from 86.42% to 93.18%. By status, RAT positive rate ranged from 1.13% to 6.16% for students, 0.99% to 3.93% for staffs, positive predictive value of RAT ranged from 87.19% to 94.03% for students, 77.55% to 83.10% for staffs. RAT positive rate by symptoms ranged from 76.32% to 88.02% for those with symptoms and 0.34% to 1.11% for those without symptoms. As a result of preschool and school RAT, 943,342 confirmed cases were preemptively detected, before infection spread in preschool and school. Conclusions: RAT was well utilized to detect confirmed cases at an early stage, reducing the risk of transmission to minimize the educational gap in preschool and school. To compensate for the limitations of RAT, further research should continue to reevaluate the performance of RAT as new strains of viruses continue to emerge. We will have to come up with various ways to utilize it, such as performing periodic and repeated RAT and parallel polymerase chain reaction.

목적: 코로나19 오미크론 변이 바이러스 확진자 급증에 따라 질병관리청과 교육부는 유치원·학교 구성원을 대상으로 선제검사를 시행하였다. 정상적인 학교생활을 영위하기 위해 자가진단용 신속항원검사 (rapid antigen test, RAT)를 이용하여 코로나19 확진자를 교내 전파가 이루어지기 전에 발견하는데 목적이 있다. 방법: 2022년 3월 2일부터 5월 1일까지전국의유치원·학교의구성원을대상으로검사인원 19,458,575명, 검사건수 50,675,386건을 수집하였다. 건강상태 자가진단 앱에 입력된 결과를 코로나19정보관리시스템 확진자 현황 정보와 병합하여 RAT 양성률과 양성예측도를 분석하였다. 결과: 주간 RAT 양성률은 1.11-5.90%, 양성예측도는 86.42-93.18%였다. 신분별 RAT 양성률은 학생이 1.13-6.16%, 양성예측도는 87.19-94.03%, 교직원 RAT 양성률 0.99-3.93%, 양성예측도는 77.55-83.10%였다. 증상 유무에 따른 RAT 양성률은 의심 증상이 있는 경우 76.32-88.02%, 의심 증상이 없는 경우 0.34-1.11%, 양성예측도는 의심 증상이 있는 경우 79.54-95.49%, 의심 증상이 없는 경우 64.66-87.84%이었다. 이번 유치원·학교 구성원의 RAT 선제 검사를 통하여 943,342명의 확진자를 교내 전파 이전에 신속하게 발견하였다. 결론: 자가진단용 RAT를 잘 활용하면 확진자를 신속하게 발견하는데 도움이 되어 유치원·학교에서는 교육 공백을 최소화할 수 있고, 전파의 위험도 줄일 수 있을 것이다. 장시간 동안 정해진 공간에서 동일한 사람들과 반복적으로 노출되는 위험을 최소화하여 안전한 환경에서 학교생활이 유지될 수 있도록 노력해야 할 필요가 있다. 이러한 점에서 선제검사의 필요성은 더 중요하게 되었다. 이번 연구에서 자가진단용 RAT 검사는 선제적 선별검사 도구로써 유용성과 확진자를 신속하게 발견하는 데 활용될 수 있다는 것을 보여준다.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank the Ministry of the Ministry of Education for their help in data collection, my colleagues in the Director for Epidemiological investigation analysis in the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency for their generous support in data analysis.

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