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Assessing the utility of universal preprocedure severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing at a cancer center

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2022

Salma Abbas*
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center, Johar Town, Lahore, Pakistan
Muhammed Aasim Yusuf
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center, Johar Town, Lahore, Pakistan
*
Author for correspondence: Salma Abbas, MBBS, MPH, E-mail: salmaabbas@skm.org.pk

Abstract

We implemented preprocedure severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing for cancer patients. The overall positivity rate was 0.3%. Preprocedure testing may be limited to operative procedures as community rates of SARS-CoV-2 exceed 7%. Nonoperative aerosol-generating procedures may be performed without preprocedure testing, wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment.

Type
Concise Communication
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America

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