The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) shared survey results via the Texas Coronavirus REsponse Survey, or Texas CARES for short, to help the community better understand how COVID-19 antibody response plays out across the state.
The survey also allows people to estimate the percentage of people in Texas who have natural antibodies and may not have had a previous positive COVID-19 test.
Read more: A Texas City Becomes First in the State to Reach COVID-19 Herd Immunity
The survey showed COVID-19 antibody levels peak about 120 days after infection and may return to undetectable levels as early as 275 to 500 days following infection.
Additionally, people who are not vaccinated and were previously infected with COVID-19 have a lower number of antibodies compared with fully vaccinated survey participants.
This survey had the largest samples in the nation of young people ages 5 to 19 years enrolled in a COVID-19 seroprevalence survey.
The data revealed that more than 33% of the 3,889 Texas children who participated have antibodies to the virus, and of those, more than half (50.8%) were asymptomatic. Nearly half (44.9%) of parents reported the pandemic impacted their child’s mental health negatively.
Read more: Couple Kicked Out of Bar and Restaurant for Wearing Mask
Participating Texans help measure things like how many people in the survey have COVID-19 antibodies and how long those antibodies last.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, as a result of COVID-19, the state has recorded more than 64 thousand deaths, over 3 million cases, 42 million total COVID-19 lab tests reported over 14 million people (62.02% of the eligible population) fully vaccinated against the virus. Over 72% of Texans ages 12 and older are at least partially vaccinated.
Read more: COVID-19 Causes Diabetes? Read What Researchers Found Out
Participants were asked to complete a brief survey about their health and were then instructed to visit a participating clinic to have their blood drawn for three antibody tests administered several months apart.
This allowed the survey team to measure antibody levels over a longer period of time and understand how long immune protection from natural infection and vaccination may last.
Read more: Experts Say the United States Needs to Prepare for Another Pandemic Like COVID
“We are so thankful for all the Texans who volunteered to be in our survey,” said Jennifer Shuford, MD, MPH, Chief State Epidemiologist with DSHS.
“We now have a better understanding of antibody levels in a diverse group of Texans with different experiences. Texas CARES participants are helping us understand the dynamics of the pandemic and what we can do to end it. And we’re not done yet.”
Stay updated with more news here with us at the East County Gazette.