A recent study by Ochsner Health System research has shed new light on the spread of the new coronavirus in and around New Orleans.
Here are five things we learned from the long-awaited study and complied data from volunteer patients in Orleans and Jefferson Parish.
1. It is estimated that almost 8% of the population was infected with the virus in May
In mid-May, researchers He selected a sample of 2,640 people from a group of 25,000 volunteers and gave them an antibody test (as well as a test used to diagnose active infections). About 6.86% of those analyzed had antibodies. When combined with active infections detected during that time period, the researchers concluded that approximately 7.8% of the population in the two parishes had already been infected with the virus.
2. The coronavirus is more deadly than the flu.
During their study, the researchers found that the virus has a 1.63% mortality rate. The flu death rate during the last flu season was between .04% to .16%, suggesting that the coronavirus is 10 to 40 times more deadly.
3. Almost half of the positive cases were asymptomatic
The study also demonstrated to what extent people can be infected with the coronavirus without even knowing it. About 40% of the positive cases were asymptomatic at the time of the test. Seventy-five percent of people in the first days of the course of the disease, when the disease is believed to be more infectious, were asymptomatic.
A widely anticipated study on the spread of the coronavirus showed that approximately 7% of the population in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish have ant …
4. Antibody tests are approximately 95% accurate
Antibody tests indicate that participants had some exposure to the virus in previous months, although researchers are not sure how long the antibodies are present after infection. The Abbott antibody test used was between 95% and 98% accurate, according to the researchers. The test for active infections, also performed by Abbott, is about 93% accurate, according to studies.
5. There is a higher infection rate in black patients
The study, not yet published in a medical journal and not yet peer reviewed, also tracked the state by zip code and race. Of those examined, 10.3% of black residents were positive, well above the 5.9% of white residents who tested positive.
According to a new study, black coronavirus patients accounted for three-quarters of those hospitalized in Louisiana’s largest health system …
.
