What did the researchers do and find?
infections
INFECTIONS
The objective of this trial was to evaluate whether an intensified screening strategy involving screening for asymptomatic/paucisymptomatic patients and routine screening of symptomatic and hospitalized patients (intervention) could lead to a higher proportion of new diagnoses compared with routine screening (control) in 18 EDs in the Paris metropolitan region.During the intervention period, 4,283 asymptomatic/paucisymptomatic patients were screened, leading to 224 new diagnoses. Overall, 1,859 patients were newly diagnosed during the intervention period versus 2,084 during the control period, corresponding, after analysis, to 26.7 new diagnoses/1,000 patients versus 26.2/1,000.The proportion of new diagnoses among asymptomatic/paucisymptomatic patients in EDs was higher than that in community screenings in the region. Comparison with findings from a mathematical model indicated that ED data allowed the estimation of regional incidences for asymptomatic/paucisymptomatic infections.