As of February, nearly 60% of people in the US, including three-quarters of children, had signs of previous Novel coronavirus infections, according to a report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The estimated share of the US population carrying detectable infection-induced antibodies jumped to 58 percent by February 2022 from 34 percent in December 2021, highlighting the impact of the omicron variant that swept through the US over the past winter.
The greatest increase in infection-induced antibodies was seen in children and adolescents in the age group least vaccinated, of whom an estimated 75 per cent had detectable antibodies by February; About a third of them had developed a new seropositivity since December, the study found.
Antibodies from previous infections can be detected for at least two years after infection, but that does not necessarily mean those who have them will completely avoid re-infection, Says Dr Clarke.
The CDC analyzed blood sample data from the U.S. National Laboratory Seropositivity Survey and found that from December to February, the percentage of people in each age group with antibodies to previous infections rose sharply.
The study found that antibodies rose from 19 percent to 33 percent in those aged 65 and over, from 29 percent to 50 percent in those aged 50 to 65, and from 37 percent to 64 percent in those aged 18 to 49.
At the peak of the omicron season last winter, the seven-day average of confirmed daily cases in the United States was more than 800,000, by far the highest on record. Factors such as an increase in home testing and a lack of access for many people could mean many more cases go uncounted.
Partly because of the surge in infections, the Omicron variant is also one of the deadliest, with a seven-day moving average of more than 2,500 deaths in the United States in early February, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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