MGH Coronavirus Case Study In Chelsea Will Help Researchers Understand Immunity

CHELSEA (CBS) – At the crossroads of a pandemic and some of the best minds in medicine is Chelsea’s Bellingham Square. Last week, Massachusetts General researchers took to the six-way junction for a coronavirus case study. People passing by, who agreed to have their finger pricked, had their blood tested for antibodies. “We found that 31.5% of those individuals had antibodies to COVID-19 and none of them knew that they had it,” said Dr. John Iafrate, vice chair of pathology at the hospital and the study’s lead investigator. With 1,124 confirmed COVID-19 patients and at least 88 deaths, Chelsea holds the highest rate of infection in the Commonwealth. The medical director at MGH’s Respiratory Clinic in Chelsea says they’re testing upwards of 200 people per day. Iafrate said they decided on studying Chelsea after noticing a large number of its residents were hospitalized. “It’s really important for us to get an idea how many people in that in that community are infected. What are the risks? Can we help mitigate the risks and give useful information to the residents? So that’s why we started [the study] we hadn’t done this before,” said Iafrate. For the pilot study, the process was anonymous. Researchers tested 200 participants, using an antibody test developed by North Carolina diagnostics company BioMedomics. The device looks like a pregnancy test and it can deliver results in 10 minutes. Dr. Iafrate...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Boston News Health Syndicated CBSN Boston Syndicated Local Anaridis Rodriguez Chelsea News Coronavirus Mass General Hospital Source Type: news