Systematic Screening for SARS-CoV-2 to Detect Asymptomatic Infections: An Epitome of Taiwan's Outbreak

Chih-Chien Cheng; Chia-Chen Liu; Ju-Chuan Yen; Ting-Fang Chiu; Yi-Ning Liu; Thomas Y Hsueh; Sheng-Huang Hsiao

doi:10.1155/2022/6441339

Systematic Screening for SARS-CoV-2 to Detect Asymptomatic Infections: An Epitome of Taiwan's Outbreak

Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol. 2022 Feb 8:2022:6441339. doi: 10.1155/2022/6441339. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Chih-Chien Cheng^{1

2

3

4}, Chia-Chen Liu², Ju-Chuan Yen^{1

4

5

6}, Ting-Fang Chiu^{1

4

7}, Yi-Ning Liu¹, Thomas Y Hsueh^{8

9}, Sheng-Huang Hsiao^{10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Education and Research, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
² School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei City Hospital, Zhongxiao Branch, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ Taipei City University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁵ Graduate Institute of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Ophthalmology, Taipei City Hospital, RenAi Branch, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Pediatrics, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁸ Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Taipei City Hospital, RenAi Branch, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁹ Department of Urology, School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Department of Neurosurgery, Taipei City Hospital, RenAi Branch, Taipei, Taiwan.
¹¹ National Chenchi University, Taipei, Taiwan.

Abstract

Background: Increased studies have revealed that asymptomatic carriers substantially impact the epidemic and that asymptomatic transmission is very common. Therefore, the asymptomatic transmission threat to the spread of the pandemic should not be neglected.

Methods: The local outbreak in Taiwan, especially in Taipei City, is unprecedented and paramount and has claimed hundreds of lives, tens of thousands of cases, and enormous economic costs. As care providers and gatekeepers of infectious diseases, Taipei City Hospital has to perform regular polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results of admitted patients and healthcare workers (HCWs) to achieve these goals.

Results: In this study, the results revealed a low positive rate of less than 1%, but the asymptomatic proportions could range from 42% to 46%, which bolsters that systematic screening was effective in controlling coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) of Novel Coronavirus or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and might be an exemplar to other similar scenarios. Universal screening of admitted patients may be important and necessary, especially in asymptomatic patients.

Conclusions: Regular screening for healthcare providers is also important during this pandemic, and it is recommended that admitted patients and healthcare providers undergo systemic PCR testing.