Prevalence

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Anchor lead: How many people in the US have actually had COVID-19? Elizabeth Tracey reports

More than ten times the official number of reported cases of COVID-19 in the United States is likely a better estimate of just how widespread the infection has been, a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests. Patricia Davidson, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, explains.

Davidson: They looked at samples from nearly 12,000 cases. They demonstrated that the burden of COVID-19 may be more than 10 times greater than what we thought. They collected these samples between March and May from six regions: Connecticut, Florida, Missouri, New York City, Utah and Washington state. It will be very interesting to see as these studies continue what the prevalence ends up being.   :30

The study looked at antibodies in the blood to determine exposure. Ongoing studies will look at additional sites as well as collect additional samples. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.