More than 40% of US adults have serology indicative of past COVID-19 infection, according to research published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Lara J. Akinbami, MD, and colleagues used data from NHANES to quantify asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection prevalence and mseropositivity attained through infection without vaccination. Based on preliminary NHANES 2021-2022 results, 41.6% of adults had serology indicative of past infection, and 43.7% of these adults reported never having COVID-19, including 57.1% of non-Hispanic Black or African American adults. This may represent asymptomatic infections, the researchers noted. Furthermore, 25.5% of adults with serology indicative of past infection reported not having received a
COVID-19 vaccine. Young adults and Black adults had higher prevalence rates of seropositivity in the absence of vaccination, reflecting lower vaccination rates in these groups.
