Study finds COVID antibodies in 22 percent of Houstonians

“If you want to start measuring how often COVID-19 occurs in our population, looking at antibodies is one of the best ways to do that,” says Eric Boerwinkle, dean of the UTHealth School of Public Health.

The presence of antibodies – proteins in a patient’s immune system that fight infections – tell researchers that those have contracted the virus in the past few months. El Paso led the largest cities with 29 percent of residents surveyed testing positive for COVID-19 antibodies, followed by Dallas with 27 percent, San Antonio with 26 percent, Houston with 22 percent, Brownsville with 20 percent and Austin by 15 percent.

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Researchers gave nearly 7,000 participants a questionnaire about their health and multiple blood tests to evaluate their immune systems, and also evaluated more than 78,000 unidentified blood samples from clinics across the country. The survey evaluates how long immunity lasts and the antibody response of asymptomatic individuals.

Preliminary data indicate that 27 percent of Texas’ Spanish population and 29 percent of Texans 19 and younger have COVID-19 antibodies.

The frequency of antibodies in the youth is worrying, Boerwinkle said. Many children never know they are carrying SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID.

“We are very happy that young people do not get sick as often when they are exposed to the virus,” he said. “At the moment we do not have a vaccine approved for children. However, we need to be careful because we do not understand why some children have serious consequences of COVID. ‘

Early reports show that COVID-19 antibodies live in the body for as long as eight months after infection, according to Science, a peer-reviewed medical journal. The proteins are the key to understanding infection rates and risk factors for the virus.

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Texas researchers said it was too early to determine how long antibodies from the entire world study would last, but so far it is rare to find patients who tested positive for the proteins that were negative during a second blood test.

“The Texas CARES study is the latest science that will provide valuable information to enable Texas to formulate public health strategies that will ultimately defeat the pandemic,” said Dr. John Hellerstedt, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, said in a statement. .

Antibody infusions from people who have recovered from COVID-19 are part of the treatment strategies of some medical providers. Several monoclonal antibody agents are already available under emergency use for use in patients at risk for serious complications.

The study, which began in October, aims to enroll 75,000 people. People are eligible for the study regardless of whether they have been tested for COVID-19, but those with active infections should wait until they have recovered to enter.