Copyright
©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Management and implementation strategies of pre-screening triage in children during coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in Guangzhou, China
Xuan Shi, Yu-Tao Cai, Xian Cai, Xiu-Lan Wen, Jing-Yan Wang, Wen-Cheng Ma, Jun Shen, Jin-Xia Wu, Hai-Yan Liu, Jing Sun, Pei-Qin He, Yan Lin, Dan-Yang Zhao, Pei-Qing Li
Xuan Shi, Jing-Yan Wang, Wen-Cheng Ma, Jin-Xia Wu, Pei-Qin He, Pei-Qing Li, Department of Pediatric Emergency, Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510000, Guangdong Province, China
Yu-Tao Cai, Hai-Yan Liu, Outpatient Department of Pediatrics, Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510000, Guangdong Province, China
Xian Cai, Jing Sun, Emergency General Ward, Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510000, Guangdong Province, China
Xiu-Lan Wen, Yan Lin, Department of Nursing, Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510000, Guangdong Province, China
Jun Shen, Dan-Yang Zhao, Department of Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510000, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Shi X, Cai Y, and Cai X carried out the studies, participated in collecting data, and drafted the manuscript; Wen X, Zhao D, Lin Y, and Li PQ performed the statistical analysis and participated in its design; Wang J, Ma W, Shen J, Wu J, Liu H, Sun J, and He P participated in data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data and drafted the manuscript; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was supported by the Ethics Committee of Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center.
Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent to the study because the analysis used anonymous clinical data that were obtained after each patient agreed to treatment by written consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Pei-Qing Li, MD, Chief Physician, Director, Department of Pediatric Emergency, Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, No. 9 Jinsui Road, Guangzhou 510000, Guangdong Province, China. annie_129@126.com
Received: October 28, 2020
Peer-review started: October 28, 2020
First decision: November 20, 2020
Revised: December 28, 2020
Accepted: March 8, 2021
Article in press: March 8, 2021
Published online: April 26, 2021
BACKGROUND
Emerging infectious diseases are a constant threat to the public’s health and health care systems around the world. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019), which was defined by the World Health Organization as pandemic, has rapidly emerged as a global health threat. Outbreak evolution and prevention of international implications require substantial flexibility of frontline health care facilities in their response.
AIM
To explore the effect of the implementation and management strategy of pre-screening triage in children during COVID-19.
METHODS
The standardized triage screening procedures included a standardized triage screening questionnaire, setup of pre-screening triage station, multi-point temperature monitoring, extensive screenings, and two-way protection. In order to ensure the implementation of the pre-screening triage, the prevention and control management strategies included training, emergency exercise, and staff protection. Statistical analysis was performed on the data from all the children hospitalized from January 20, 2020 to March 20, 2020 at solstice during the pandemic period. Data were obtained from questionnaires and electronic medical record systems.
RESULTS
A total of 17561 children, including 2652 who met the criteria for screening, 192 suspected cases, and two confirmed cases without omission, were screened from January 20, 2020 to March 20, 2020 at solstice during the pandemic period. There was zero transmission of the infection to any medical staff.
CONCLUSION
The effective strategies for pre-screening triage have an essential role in the prevention and control of hospital infection.
Core Tip: As the designated treatment center for children with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in Guangdong Province during the pandemic period, we developed standardized triage screening procedures to assist health care providers with next steps; a simple but crucial questionnaire was designed to assist diagnosing patients. All interventions, including multi-point temperature monitoring and screening, extensive screenings, and two-way protection, effectively prevented the spread of the epidemic. There were no infected patients missed, and there was zero transmission of the infection to any medical staff.
