According to an AIIMS survey, more over half of the youngsters had asymptomatic Covid infection.
A serosurvey undertaken by the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, revealed that any future outbreak of Covid-19 by the prevalent strains of coronavirus will disproportionately impact children aged two years or older.
This comes as a number of politicians and health professionals have raised concerns about the possibility of a third wave impacting children.
AIIMS obtained data from 4,509 individuals across four states between March 15 and June 10, 2021, with 700 being under the age of 18 and 3,809 being above.
The interim research discovered seroprevalence (the presence of Covid antibodies) in 55.7 percent of individuals aged 2 to 17, and 63.5 percent of those aged 18 and up. According to the research, “there was no statistically significant difference in frequency between adults and children.”
A significant number of children had asymptomatic Covid-19 infection. The total seroprevalence was discovered to be 65.9%.
The second countrywide seroprevalence survey, which was conducted in August-September 2020, discovered that 9% of the 3,021 youngsters aged 10-17 years were seropositive. According to the most recent AIIMS research, 60.3 percent of individuals aged 10 to 17 were previously infected with Covid.
Because schools were closed during the epidemic, children were likely to catch the illness from home adults, according to AIIMS experts. However, it is unclear if youngsters generate the same amount of antibodies as adults when infected, according to the study.
Seroprevalence in youngsters was somewhat higher in females (59%) than in men (59%). (53 per cent). Seropositivity rates in children aged 2-4 years and 5-9 years were nearly comparable, at 42.4 and 43.8 percent, respectively. This was lower than the percentage seen for children aged 10 to 17 years, which was 60.3%.
According to the study, “the greater seropositivity rate in children aged 10-17 years may be symptomatic of their higher mobility and independence compared to younger children.”
The study also discovered that the seropositivity rate was greater, at 74.7 percent, when compared to the fifth serosurvey performed in January 2021 in Delhi, where 56 percent of the people questioned exhibited indications of prior infection.
The survey comprised four rural locations, with Gorakhpur having the highest seroprevalence (almost 88%) and Faridabad having the lowest (approximately 59%) indicating evidence of previous Covid infection.
The information was gathered from the Delhi urban resettlement colony, villages in the Faridabad district of the Delhi NCR, and rural areas in Bhubaneswar, Gorakhpur, and Agartala.
