The majority of children in D.C., Maryland and Virginia have gotten the coronavirus at some point during the past two years, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC study found that 75.4% of D.C. children tested positive for the virus, 73% in Maryland and 76% in Virginia. Comparably, almost 80% of youngsters nationally have had the disease at some time.
However, coronavirus-related deaths among children have been low. Virginia has reported about 23 deaths and Maryland has relayed 26 since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.
“The CDC takes stored laboratory specimens around the United States and they survey it for what’s called nucleocapsid antibody,” said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious doctor with the University of California, San Francisco, WTOP reported. “That’s an antibody that indicates that children or adults or anyone who has been exposed to COVID — not vaccination.”
Gandhi, who urges all eligible children to get vaccinated, said the news should be a relief for parents who are worried about their children going back to school.
“This should be comforting,” she said, WTOP reported. “This kind of data really tells us, as we see more and more infections, more and more vaccinations, we are getting more and more immunity, which makes us safe — even in school settings — from what we dread the most, which is getting sick from the infection.”