10/ "But God", you ask, with a common autocorrect mistake, "what does this have to do with COVID-19?" Well, reader, this is where we get to antibody testingpic.twitter.com/OdmE1jOyKX
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21/n And this is the problem with convenience samples, generally We cannot use them to estimate population prevalence (how many people have had COVID-19), because they aren't representative of society as a whole
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22/n So if you see a headline that says "x% of people infected with COVID-19!" take a leaf out of my mentor's book and ask: "WHAT'S THE DENOMINATOR?" It's a vitally important question
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23/n THIS DOESN'T MEAN THAT CONVENIENCE SAMPLES ARE USELESS I use them in my research. They are brilliant for quick, cheap tracking of rates of infection IN SELECT GROUPS They also provide a brilliant window into change OVER TIME
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24/n For example, if you sample blood donors every week for a year, you've got an amazing insight into the changing nature of the pandemic THIS IS MASSIVELY IMPORTANT AND VERY CHEAP
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25/n You just can't use those results to tell how many people in the rest of society have gotten COVID-19 But that doesn't mean the results aren't helpful at all
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End of conversation
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