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Half of Omicron patients don't know they're infected, study says

More than half (56%) of people infected with Omicron variants are unaware that they are infected.

This is the conclusion of a small study presented at the JAMA Network Openon August 17. In some ways, this is good news, as it highlights the fact that Omicron tends to cause relatively mild symptoms (or no symptoms at all) in vaccinated people. are likely to be unintentionally spreading the virus.

Her Susan Cheng, Ph.D., Director of the Healthy Aging Laboratory at the Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute, and her colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles and Abbott Laboratories studied 210 employees and patients. did. Cedars-Sinai provided at least two of her blood samples for antibody testing. Researchers analyzed levels of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Most of the people in the study had been vaccinated, and the researcher measured levels of two different types of antibodies: those the immune system made in response to the vaccine. and are produced by the immune system after infection. virus. At the start of the study, all volunteers had to have infection-induced antibody levels below a certain threshold, indicating no recent virus infection. acted as a surrogate for infection. The participant also completed a health survey describing symptoms and her COVID-19 PCR test to determine if she had been infected during the study period.

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People who tested positive in this study were unaware that they had been infected because they did not experience symptoms of COVID-19 or had only mild symptoms from colds and allergies. The findings supportinitial dataworldwide, suggesting that 25% to 40% of SARS-CoV-2 infections were asymptomatic throughout the pandemic. virus spread.

"If there is one message he can take from our research, he hopes that awareness of the epidemic is the key to getting through this pandemic more quickly." said Cheng. “Lack of awareness and lack of knowledge can lead to walking around with something contagious and unknowingly passing the virus on to family members, neighbors, co-workers, or someone at the grocery store.” 30}

Data showed that people's awareness of infection status improved after the widespread availability of rapid home test kits in early 2022. % he was by May.

The fact that she is unaware that one of her two people infected with Omicron is even infected with her COVID-19 calls for more frequent testing. strongly backs that up. Regular testing with a home rapid antigen kitis a good idea even if you don't feel sick. Transportation, workplaces, schools, and crowded public places (such as concerts and sports games) are all places where infection can occur.

Knowing one's infection status may become increasingly important, says Chen.Studies have shown that people are infected with Omicron variants not just once,but twice and even multiple times.She is currently studying reinfection. , we have a better understanding of how many times people get infected multiple times and the risk factors that make them more likely.

she says. "Unfortunately, we will have to live with this virus for some time. If we can raise more awareness, we can help ourselves, our families and our communities to limit the spread of the virus." Please contact us at

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