Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Medical Services, Sessvollmoen, Norway.
Department of Microbiology, Division of Laboratory Medicine, Oslo University Hospital-Ullevål, Oslo, Norway.
Scand J Prim Health Care. 2021 Mar;39(1):31-34. doi: 10.1080/02813432.2021.1880101. Epub 2021 Feb 5.
We aim to discuss whether preventive quarantine can mitigate the spread of Covid-19 during the pandemic. We did a cross-sectional, observational study design in a mass-screening program in the enrolment to the Norwegian military during April 19-28th 2020 (COVID-NOR-MIL). 1170 presumptively healthy young Norwegian conscripts. A structured interview encouraged the coming conscripts to a self-imposed preventive quarantine the last two weeks before enrolment. All conscripts underwent a PCR-based test with nasopharyngeal swabs at the day of enrolment. Only two tested positive. The study discusses the predictive value of the RT-PCR test and the risk of false positive and false negative results, particularly when using the test in a low-prevalent cohort, even if the test properties of sensitivity and specificity is almost 100%. Further, the study discusses the challenge of whether a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR-test represent viable and contagious virus or only viral remnants. The adherence to self-imposed preventive quarantine is a challenge and is a subject to further research. Implications: We want to draw the attention to the potential value of a thorough pre-screening processes and self-imposed preventive quarantine to minimize the potential spread of SARS-Cov-2.
我们旨在探讨在大流行期间预防性检疫是否可以减轻新冠病毒的传播。我们采用了横断面观察性研究设计，在 2020 年 4 月 19 日至 28 日期间对挪威军队的新兵招募进行了大规模筛查计划（COVID-NOR-MIL）。共有 1170 名被认为健康的挪威新兵。一项结构化访谈鼓励即将入伍的新兵在入伍前的最后两周内进行自我预防性检疫。所有新兵在入伍当天都接受了基于 PCR 的鼻咽拭子检测。只有两人检测呈阳性。该研究讨论了 RT-PCR 检测的预测值以及假阳性和假阴性结果的风险，特别是在使用低流行率队列进行检测时，即使检测的敏感性和特异性几乎达到 100%。此外，该研究还讨论了 SARS-CoV-2 PCR 检测阳性是否代表有活力和传染性的病毒，还是仅仅是病毒残余物。自我实施的预防性检疫的遵守情况是一个挑战，需要进一步研究。意义：我们希望引起人们对彻底的预筛选过程和自我实施的预防性检疫的潜在价值的关注，以最大程度地减少 SARS-Cov-2 的潜在传播。
