Italy, September 2019
June 10, 2026
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June 10, 2026
Italy, September 2019
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Dr John Campbell Episodes Around June 10, 2026
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23:41This episodeItaly, September 2019
Summary
Covid antibodies found in stored blood samples
Milan Institute for Tumour Diseases, Coronavirus antibodies, September, 2019
Unexpected detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the prepandemic period in Italy (October 2021)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33176598/
Full text version
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8529295/
Screening and Multiple Intervention on Lung Epidemics (SMILE
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03654105
There are no robust data, coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and spread, prepandemic period worldwide
We investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD)-specific antibodies
Blood samples of 959 asymptomatic individuals,
enrolled in a prospective lung cancer screening trial,
between September 2019 and March 2020
Plasma samples repository
Results
SARS-CoV-2 RBD-specific antibodies were detected in,
111 of 959 (11.6%) individuals
All the patients were asymptomatic at the time of blood sample collection.
Actual timeframe
First positive test, 3rd September
September 2019 23/162 (14.2%)
October 2019 27/166 (16.3%)
Second week of February 2020, (more than 30%)
By the end of September, Lombardy, Veneto, Piedmont, Emilia Romagna, Liguria, Lazio, Campania, Friuli.
Official timeframe
End of December 2019, coronavirus 2 identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
January 30th 2020 Italy’s first two cases,
(two tourists from China tested positive in Rome)
February 20, 2020 Lombardy, 38-year-old man, no history of travel
Authors
This study shows an unexpected very early circulation of SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic individuals
Several months before the first patient was identified
Finding SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in asymptomatic people before the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy may reshape the history of pandemic.
Phenomena 1
Underestimation of prevalence
Swabs and serology, focused on symptomatic cases
Therefore, an underestimation of overall COVID-19 infections
(Selection bias)
Therefore overestimation of mortality rate
May 25 and July 15 (2020)
SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence study, n = 64,660
Prevalence rate was 2.5%
Approximately 1.5 million, (many of whom were asymptomatic)
Estimate almost 5 times higher than official reports