CDC data reveals how many Americans survived all COVID waves

It is nearly impossible to ever forget the dreadful COVID-19! So many people lost their lives battling this pandemic.

A last set of data for 2022 from the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention shows that by the end of 2022, approximately one in four adults and older teenagers in the country were still uninfected with COVID-19.

Additionally, according to the research, 77.5% of people who contracted the coronavirus at least once produced antibodies.

---

What Does the CDC Data Say About Covid in the USA?

Antibodies from prior infection could have been the reason for people not being infected by the coronavirus.

Vermont has the lowest rate of previous illnesses among the 47 states with data in the CDC dashboard, with 64.4% of Vermonters having antibodies from a prior infection. The proportion of those who had previously been infected was highest in Iowa, at 90.6%.

Antibodies from prior infection could have been the reason for people not being infected by the coronavirus. (Image via Unsplash/ Maxime)

Blacks and whites have similar rates of prior infection, about 75% to 80%. When compared to other racial and ethnic groups, Asian Americans had the lowest percentage of those who had antibodies from a previous infection (66.1%), while Hispanics had the greatest percentage (80.6%).

---

Role of Antibodies After Covid

The extent of the virus's unreported or underreported spread was made clear by federal data test results demonstrating antibodies in the blood.

Antibodies perform a number of crucial functions in the body's response to the coronavirus following infection or vaccination. Here are some important functions that antibodies have:

1) Neutralizing the virus

Antibodies produced in response to COVID-19 infection or immunization have the ability to neutralize the virus. They block the virus from entering and infecting host cells by attaching to certain regions of it, like the spike protein. Limiting viral reproduction and spread inside the body is made possible by neutralizing antibodies.

Antibodies work by neutralizing the virus. (Image via Unsplash/ Heike Trautmann)

2) Protection against reinfection

Following the infection or immunization, antibodies are produced that offer defense against subsequent infections. By identifying the virus and launching a quick immune response, they give protection by avoiding reinfection or lessening the severity of subsequent infections.

3) Long-Term immunological Protection

Antibodies play a role in long-term immunological protection. Memory B cells can swiftly make additional antibodies when necessary, maintaining continued defense against the pathogen even if antibody levels gradually fall.

With that being said, people are not immune from contracting COVID again just because they have antibodies from a prior infection. Immunity gradually fades over time, with those without so-called "hybrid" immunity from both an illness and a vaccination experiencing the sharpest reductions.