Implementing the Lolli-Method and pooled RT-qPCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in schools: a pilot project
Open Access
- 27 June 2022
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Infection
- Vol. 51 (2), 459-464
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-022-01865-0
Abstract
Purpose School closures have been used as part of lockdown strategies to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2, adversely affecting children’s health and education. To ensure the accessibility of educational institutions without exposing society to the risk of increased transmissions, it is essential to establish SARS-CoV-2 testing strategies that are child-friendly, scalable and implementable in a daily school routine. Self-sampling using non-invasive saliva swabs combined with pooled RT-qPCR testing (Lolli-Method) has been proven to be a sensitive method for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. Methods We conducted a pilot project in Cologne, Germany, designed to determine the feasibility of a large-scale rollout of the Lolli-Method for testing without any additional on-site medical staff in schools. Over a period of three weeks, students from 22 schools were sampled using the Lolli-Method. At the end of the project, teachers were asked to evaluate the overall acceptance of the project. Results We analyzed a total of 757 pooled RT-qPCRs obtained from 8,287 individual swabs and detected 7 SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals. The Lolli-Method was shown to be a feasible and accepted testing strategy whose application is only slightly disruptive to the daily school routine. Conclusion Our observations suggest that the Lolli-Method in combination with pooled RT-qPCR can be implemented for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in daily school routine, applicable on a large scale.Keywords
Funding Information
- State of North Rhine-Westphalia
- Universitätsklinikum Köln
This publication has 20 references indexed in Scilit:
- Comparison of seven commercial SARS-CoV-2 rapid point-of-care antigen tests: a single-centre laboratory evaluation studyThe Lancet Microbe, 2021
- Pooled saliva samples as an approach to reduce the spread of infections with SARS-CoV-2Infection, 2021
- SARS-CoV-2 Infections in Italian Schools: Preliminary Findings After 1 Month of School Opening During the Second Wave of the PandemicFrontiers in Pediatrics, 2021
- Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2Infection, 2020
- Children and Adolescents With SARS-CoV-2 InfectionThe Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 2020
- Trends in clinical presentation of children with COVID-19: a systematic review of individual participant dataPediatric Research, 2020
- The indirect impact of COVID-19 on child healthPaediatrics and Child Health, 2020
- Reopening Primary Schools during the PandemicThe New England Journal of Medicine, 2020
- Pooling of samples for testing for SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic peopleThe Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2020
- Universal weekly testing as the UK COVID-19 lockdown exit strategyThe Lancet, 2020