Study: More than half unaware of Omicron infection status

Editor's Note

This study led by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, finds that more than half of adults with recent Omicron infection analyzed were unaware of their infectious status.

Of 210 adult employees or patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with serological evidence of recent Omicron variant infection:

• 92 (44%) were aware of their infection
• 118 (56%) were unaware of their infectious status
• 12 (10%) of those unaware reported having symptoms, which they attributed to a cold or other non-COVID-19 infection.

Multivariate analysis found that participants who were healthcare employees were more likely than nonemployees to be aware of their Omicron infection, but awareness was still low overall.

Unawareness may be a key contributor to rapid transmission of the Omicron variant within communities, the researchers say.