Dr. “As a pediatrician and parent, I strongly support the vaccination of children, even if they are infected,” Clarke said.
In the United States, coronavirus cases are rising again, especially in the Northeast, but so far the increase in hospitalizations has been minimal and deaths are still falling.
Even among those hospitalized, we see that “less oxygen is used, less intensive care stays. CDC’s director, Dr. “Fortunately, we did not see any increase in deaths associated with these,” said Rochelle Walensky. “We are hopeful that positive trends will continue.”
CDC researchers began assessing antibody levels in people in 10 regions early in the pandemic and have since expanded this effort To all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Researchers use a test sensitive enough to detect previously infected people for at least a year or two after exposure.
Researchers looked for antibodies to the virus by analyzing blood samples collected from September 2021 to February 2022; they then disaggregated the data by age, gender, and geographic location. The researchers specifically looked for a type of antibody produced after infection, but not only in vaccinated people.
Between September 2021 and December 2021, the prevalence of antibodies in samples increased by 1-2 percentage points every four weeks. However, it jumped sharply after December and increased by about 25 points by February 2022.
The percentage of samples with antibodies increased from about 45 percent to 75 percent among both children 11 years of age and younger and adolescents 12 to 17 years old.
By February 2022, about 64 percent of adults ages 18 to 49, about half of adults ages 50 to 64, and about one-third of older adults had been exposed to the virus, according to the study.