ISSN: 2642-6250
Authors: Rawa Al Ameri*
Introduction: COVID19 pandemic forced ministries of health across the world to invent additional measures for control. Active screening is one of these tools. It includes asking questions, taking temperatures and doing rapid test for COVID19 in persons with risk factors. A team of a family medicine physician, lab worker, and administrative is formed. They visit homes with positive cases, making physical exam and COVID19 rapid test to contacts of the cases. Subject and Method: An electronic questionnaire is introduced to family physicians specialists in family medical centers in Baghdad. 99 physicians respond to questionnaire for one week. The questionnaire involved two sections; the 1st one asked if the screening surveillance is necessary for COVID19 control from physician s’ point of view. The 2nd section states the reasons of their opinions. Results: The study included 99 family medical physicians, 56 said yes; screening is necessary to control viral spread while, 43 said no. Discussion and Conclusions: Active screening required intense efforts by medical team with limited resources and hot weather. Rapid test of COVID19 is screening test so it is not detecting all infected people, including some with clinical disease compatible with COVID-19. The study gives a conclusion that there is a controversy about active screening.
Keywords: COVID19; Infections; Chest X-Ray
