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Study: U.S. COVID-19 cases underestimated by half, antibody testing suggests
UPI ^ | March 16 , 2021 | Brian P. Dunl eavy

Posted on 03/17/2021 11:44:30 AM PDT by george76

Up to 16 million people in the United States may have had undiagnosed, asymptomatic COVID-19 as of September 2020 -- twice as many as previously estimated -- an analysis published Tuesday by JAMA Network Open reported.

Just under 7% of about 62,000 people in the United States with no symptoms of infection tested in the study had antibodies against the virus, the data showed..

Antibodies are cells produced by the immune system to fight off infection, and their presence in blood suggests that people either are battling the virus or were recently.

The nearly 16 million asymptomatic cases is more than twice the number of confirmed cases -- about 7.5 million -- reported in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the end of September..

As of September, the scope of the pandemic was about double the number of reported cases," study co-author Dr. Robert L. Stout told UPI in an email.

"The primary means of transmission of this virus is the asymptomatic population -- the patient [who] is unaware of their infectious status and is therefore at risk of unknowing spreading the virus," said Stout, a researcher with Lenexa, Kansas-based Clinical Reference Laboratory. The company that specializes in health testing for life insurance applicants.

Since the start of the pandemic last March, public health officials and researchers have suggested that the number of cases and deaths linked with the virus, both in the United States and globally, may be undercounted.

This is due to the number of infected people who may experience no symptoms, believed to be up to 80% of those with the virus, experts say.

For this study, Stout and his colleagues tested 61,190 life insurance applicants for antibodies to the coronavirus in September, using blood samples collected as part of the application process.

None of the applicants reported having symptoms of COVID-19. Just under 4,100, or 6.7%, tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, and about 56% of them were male, researchers said...

Most of those who tested positive for antibodies were in their late 30s or early 40s, which researchers say is significant given that younger people are believed to be at lower risk for serious illness, or symptoms, from COVID-19.

These people may be unknowingly driving spread of the virus, the researchers said.

"Quite simply ... they think that everything is fine and continue to go about their normal activities," Stout said.

"Some practice recommended CDC guidelines in public places while some may not," he said.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: antibodytest; asymptomatic; chinavirus; covid; covid19; lockdowns; masks; news
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To: the OlLine Rebel

41 posted on 03/17/2021 1:26:54 PM PDT by 4Liberty (Honest GOP can’t use legal options cause Dems use illegal ones (threats). The Robert Creamer Party! )
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To: gitmo

Makes me wonder where this hospital is and which it is.

My MIL died from COVID Jan 6.

She avoided visiting all of us completely, and we all had COVID in Dec. my elderly mother got it along with her friend, and it spread to me and my cousin and my household. Not universally fun but we all got over it.

Of course, my MIL lived much closer 15 min vs 3 hrs) to her niece and family who had it in Nov. They all got through it as well.

As did my nephew and his wife and MIL back in the summer.

And my niece works in the Hopkins COVID unit. She still hasn’t had it or brought it to her home.


42 posted on 03/17/2021 1:38:20 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMVs. I )
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

You are correct. They could both be liars to promote their own agendas. But one position is correct and one is an out and out fabrication. I have three generations under one roof and the adults all work. We have taken no extraordinary measures and none of us or our immediate circle of friends/family have contracted the virus or been sick in any other way. So just wondering.


43 posted on 03/17/2021 1:43:42 PM PDT by spudville
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To: elpadre

“and few people older than that apply for life insurance.”

Only if the ads I see while watching reruns of Jag and Gunsmoke are just examples of companies wasting their money.


44 posted on 03/17/2021 2:20:14 PM PDT by xkaydet65 ( )
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To: rktman

I’ll see your 16M and raise you 2.


45 posted on 03/17/2021 2:36:09 PM PDT by skimbell
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To: Paladin2

Political Science is a real thing but in the case of these Covid scammers,politics and “science” is now taken to a new level. If we as a society keep on letting these a-holes sh*t shape our lives,we are finished as a free society.


46 posted on 03/17/2021 2:58:18 PM PDT by shanover (...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)
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To: george76

And the denominator grows and grows.....

What happens when the denominator grows class?

If we had all the numbers God knows, we would find the risk of death due to covid to be in the tenths to hundredths of a percent. And we destroyed or way of life for that, as well as destroyed our children’s immediate future.


47 posted on 03/17/2021 3:03:49 PM PDT by walkingdead (We are sacrificing American youth's future on the altar of our own fear. And it is a travesty.)
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To: shanover

“If we as a society keep on letting these a-holes sh*t shape our lives,we are finished as a free society.”

Bump The TRUTH.


48 posted on 03/17/2021 3:04:54 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: walkingdead

“What happens when the denominator grows class?”

Woke Math don’t know.

Probably a racis’ question.

Koncentration Kamp re-education indicated....


49 posted on 03/17/2021 3:06:37 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: Autonomous User

see post #1. WHO study of 10,000,000 people found zero cases of asymptomatic person passing on CV-19. ZERO OUT OF 10,000,000.

follow the science. hell they (scientist) can’t follow the science.


50 posted on 03/17/2021 4:19:25 PM PDT by dirtymac (Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.(DT4POTUS))
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To: rktman

Could be due to false positives; or people who recovered but did not get tested, thinking it was a bad cold or wanting to avoid quarantine.


51 posted on 03/17/2021 5:05:30 PM PDT by Socon-Econ (adical Islam, )
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To: rktman

Could be due to false positives; or people who recovered but did not get tested, thinking it was a bad cold or wanting to avoid quarantine.


52 posted on 03/17/2021 5:05:56 PM PDT by Socon-Econ (adical Islam, )
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To: the OlLine Rebel

The only thing that ever caused me to go to that hell hole was rescuing a brutally abused Boa.

No way no how.

/Rosehill abides


53 posted on 03/17/2021 5:27:04 PM PDT by Salamander (Salamander has barbaric tendencies.../Gundog)
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