The total number of Covid-19 infections may be six to 24 times greater than reported, according to a survey of blood samples in six areas across the country by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USA
The survey looked for Covid-19 antibodies in blood samples from commercial laboratories, which were collected for reasons unrelated to Covid-19, between March 23 and May 3, in Connecticut, South Florida, the Greater Metropolitan Area. New York City, Missouri, Utah, and Western Washington State.
In Connecticut, the survey estimated that 5% of people had antibodies to Covid-19 between April 26 and May 3, which meant there were six times as many cases as reported.
In the New York City metro area, that number was 7% of people at the end of March, 12 times more than the number of cases reported at the time. And the survey estimates that 2.65% of Missouri residents had antibodies in late April. In that case, there were nearly 162,000 cases as of April 26 in the state, 24 times more than the 6,800 reported at the time.
CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield hinted at the preliminary results Thursday when he told reporters: “The estimates we have right now … is that there are approximately 10 times as many people as have antibodies.”
Redfield said previous testing efforts may have overlooked mild, asymptomatic cases, rather than targeting people who were ill in hospitals or nursing homes.
Going forward: The seroprevalence survey is ongoing, and the CDC says it plans to test about 1,800 samples every three to four weeks from these areas, in addition to four additional states: California, Louisiana, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.
The agency says that these samples may not be representative of the total populations in these areas, and the survey did not analyze risk factors among those sampled, such as a person’s occupation or underlying health conditions.
The survey suggests that while the estimated number of infections may be much higher than the official number, the vast majority of people have not been infected with the virus.
The jury is still out on what the antibodies mean for immunity to this virus.
“Other studies are planned to learn more about antibodies to SARS-COV-2, including how long they last, whether or not they provide protection against infection again, and whether or not they become infected again, can make the disease more. mild or not, “the agency said.
The CDC adjusted its estimates to account for false positive and false negative results, which can occur frequently in some areas, and cautions against interpreting the results individually for this reason.
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