COVID-19 is an odd virus; if you catch it, it can kill you, or you might never even know you had it.
A new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that a majority of Americans, both adults and children, have been infected with COVID-19.
Nearly 60% of adults and about 75% of children have coronavirus antibodies, indicating that they had been infected with COVID-19 and its variants, according to data collected from a study of blood samples across the country. That’s a huge rise from December 2021, when just 34% of Americans had COVID-19 antibodies.
“As of February 2022, approximately 75% of children and adolescents had serologic evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2, with approximately one third becoming newly seropositive since December 2021,” the report says.
But researchers aren’t sure how long those antibodies are effective in keeping people from catching the virus or one of its variants a second time.
“We still do not know how long infection-induced immunity will last, and we cannot know from the study, again, whether all people who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies continue to have protection from their prior infection,” said Dr. Kristie Clarke, who led the study for the CDC.
Hellbound and Down 