A family walk on Madison Avenue wearing protective masks during the coronavirus pandemic on April 08, 2020 in New York City. Photo: AFP
A new study has begun recruiting at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to determine how many adults in the United States without a confirmed history of COVID-19 infection, have antibodies to the virus, according to a release of the NIH on Friday.
The presence of antibodies in the blood indicates a prior infection. In this “serosurvey,” researchers will collect and analyze blood samples from as many as 10,000 volunteers to provide critical data for epidemiological models, said the NIH.
The results will help illuminate the extent to which the novel coronavirus has spread undetected in the United States and provide insights into which communities and populations are most affected.
“This study will give us a clearer picture of the true magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States by telling us how many people in different communities have been infected without knowing it, because they had a very mild, undocumented illness or did not access testing while they were sick,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“These crucial data will help us measure the impact of our public health efforts now and guide our COVID-19 response moving forward,” he said.
