12% of Latvians can become infected with Covid without knowledge / article

On May 26, Latvian Radio reported that almost 12% of the Latvian population had COVID-19 without their knowledge, according to a study by the Scientific Institute PURE, the University of Latvia and the University of Riga Stradis.

127 GP clinics from all over Latvia participated in the study, testing almost 5,700 samples for antibodies.

Infection scientist Uga Dumpis explained that these figures show that the number of people affected by Covid-19 is not very large at the moment, and refutes the repeated opinion that the majority of the population has had it, but is unknown.

“We noticed significant geographical differences – in Latgale there are 21% of people with antibodies and 6% in Kurzeme. Also in age groups, the highest number of antibodies was detected in children who attended educational institutions. In principle, we show that school closure is an event. Effective for controlling the spread of the virus.

The youngest of the study participants was 2 years old and the oldest was 96 years old. Anda Iivite-Urtane, director of the Institute of Public Health, the head of the study, said that only those who thought they did not have Covid-19 were included in the study.

“Maybe every eighth Latvian has been in contact with a Covid-19 agent or, without him noticing, they overcame it. If we look at gender, there is no real difference. Age trends are interesting. What we hear in the media is that children do not suffer, but what our study shows, which is consistent with foreign data, is that antibodies among children have doubled the percentage of people in the workforce or in society. “Older people,” Ofti Ortan said.

Infection scientist Dumbes noted that although the study samples were collected earlier in the year, they are now very important in planning another fight against Covid-19. The results of the research allow to plan vaccination campaigns in different regions of Latvia. In addition, it is important to know the true number of patients in order to assess the procedure required to help achieve herd immunity in each area.

Īvīte-Urtāne said that the research is planned to continue.

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