July 23, 2020 – Between March and mid-May, up to 10 times more coronavirus infections are likely to occur than the number of cases reported during, according to a retest through the CDC’s COVID-19 reaction team.
Published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, the test looked for antibodies at 10 sites in the United States. In San Francisco, 1% of the samples contained antibodies last April, with only about 7% in New York, which were collected in the past due. It’s March.
“More than 10 times more SARS-CoV-2 infections are likely to have occurred than the number of reported COVID-19 cases; however, the maximum of other people at the site probably did not have detectable antibodies opposite SARS-CoV-2,” he added. The authors wrote.
The study team studied blood samples from more than 16,000 people at 10 locations: San Francisco, Connecticut, South Florida, Louisiana, Minneapolis-St. Paul St. Cloud, Missouri, New York, Philadelphia, Utah and Western Washington.
The team also estimated that the number of infections ranged from 6 to 24 times the number of reported cases. In Connecticut, for example, they estimated that 176,000 infections occurred from March to May, about 6 times more than the 29,000 instances reported in early May. In Missouri, the team estimated that 162,000 infections occurred, nearly 24 times more than the 7,000 instances reported at the end of April.
Connecticut’s lowest estimate “may reflect increasing availability as the pandemic progresses,” they wrote.
For seven sites (Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, Utah and Washington State) the team estimated that more than 10 times more infections occurred than the reported cases.
Most infections were probably caused by others with COVID-19 who had mild or nonexistent symptoms and who had not tried or requested medical treatment. They contributed to the continuous spread of coronavirus while still being contagious.
“Because persons often do not know if they are infected with SARS-CoV-2, the public should continue to take steps to help prevent the spread of COVID-19,” the authors wrote.
JAMA Internal Medicine, “Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies at 10 sites in the United States, March 23 to May 12, 2020”.
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