Over half of Americans have had COVID-19

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released findings from a study that examined the rate of Americans that have been infected with COVID-19, finding that 57.7% of U.S. residents display signs of previous infection.

That number increased in children and adolescents, with 75.2% of the age group displaying signs of a previous COVID-19 infection.

The study examined blood samples submitted for clinical testing for the presence of anti-nucleocapsid (anti-N) antibodies, which appear after a COVID-19 infection but are not produced post-vaccination.

The repeating study was conducted each month between September 2021 and February 2022. Between December 2021 and February 2022, the number of U.S. residents displaying signs of a previous COVID-19 infection increased from 33.5% to 57.7%, which coincided with the spread of the Omicron variant throughout the United States.

According to the study, previous infection with COVID-19 "should not be interpreted as protection from future infection. Vaccination remains the safest strategy for preventing complications from SARS-CoV-2 infection, including hospitalization among children and adults."

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Madeline Lauver is a former Editor in Chief at Security magazine. Within her role at Security, Lauver focused on news articles, web exclusives, features and several departments for Security’s monthly digital edition, as well as managing social media and multimedia content.

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