Julie Steenhuysen and Manas Mishrira

(Reuters) – A record 58% and 75% respectively of U.S. children were infected by the coronavirus during Omicron’s driven wave. This is according to a Tuesday U.S. national blood survey.

An analysis of blood samples submitted to laboratory between December, 2002 and February when Omicron cases were still raging, revealed that Omicron-infected children (many of whom are unvaccinated) had the highest infection rates during the surge. People 65 and older, who have been heavily vaccinated, experienced the lowest.

Scientists searched for the specific antibodies created by SARS-CoV-2 viruses. They were only found after an infection.

Children aged 11 years and under had 75.2% of the infection-related antibody positives from December through February. This is an increase from the 44.2% recorded in three months prior.

Children aged 12-17 years old were found to have 74.2% antibodies. This is an increase of 45.6% in September and December. The total rate for all people was 33.5% during this earlier period.

“Having infected antibodies doesn’t necessarily mean that you are immune to future infection,” Kristie Clarke from the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said during a press conference. We did not examine whether individuals had antibodies that provide protection against severe or reinfection.

The CDC stated, “Vaccination is the most effective strategy to avoid complications from COVID-19.”

The samples were taken from commercial labs that tested blood for non-COVID-19 reasons, including routine medical care. Because some COVID-19 cases are not diagnosed and reported by traditional disease surveillance methods, they cannot be captured using these techniques.

Between September and January, the median sampling size for a four-week period was 73.169. In February, it was 45 810

U.S. COVID-19 infection numbers have now reached 80.8 millions, a 22.7% rise over the week before, while hospital admissions increased 6.6% compared to the previous week.

Despite a decline in deaths week over week of 13.2%, the United States is quickly approaching 1,000,000 COVID-related death.

According to data from the federal government, more than 66% are considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Nearly 46% had received booster doses.