Millions of Americans Undiagnosed with COVID-19 During First Pandemic Wave

As many as 16.8 million Americans had undiagnosed SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infections... about 5 times the rate of diagnosed infections by the end of July of 2020, according to an analysis of antibodies from more than 8,000 previously undiagnosed adults collected during the pandemic's first wave, published by Science Translational Medicine on June 22, 2021.

These researchers authors calculated that almost 5% of the undiagnosed U.S. population harbored SARS-CoV-2 virus antibodies,

The team also found differences in seropositivity across regions, gender, and ethnicity.

The infection rates were highest in the Mid-Atlantic (8.6%), in women (5.5%), and African-Americans (14.2%), while lower in people working from home (3%) and in patients with chronic conditions such as heart disease.

"Our findings have implications for understanding SARS-CoV-2 spread ... and prevalence in different communities and could have a potential impact on decisions involved in vaccine rollout," the authors stated in a press release.

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