More than 50% kids in Mumbai have Covid-19 antibodies: Sero-survey

More than 50 per cent of the pediatric population in Mumbai has Covid-19 antibodies, showed findings from a sero-survey conducted here. Seroprevalence implies presence of virus-fighting antibodies against Sars-CoV-2.

The Sero-survey of SARS-CoV-2 infection among the pediatric population of Mumbai was conducted by BYL Nair Hospital and Kasturba Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory of BMC on the background of imminent danger of the third wave to the pediatric population.  

The survey has found that more than 50 per cent of the pediatric population in health care settings has antibodies to Covid-19. The overall sero-positivity is 51.18 per cent including 54.36 per cent from the public sector and 47.03 per cent from the private sector. Seropositivity is highest in the age group 10-14 years, at 53.43 per cent. The Sero-positivity rate of 1-4 years is 51.04 per cent, 5-9 years is 47.33 per cent, 10-14 years is 53.43 per cent, from 15-18 years is 51.39 per cent. The overall Sero-positivity rate of 1-18 years is 51.18 per cent.

Moreover, there is a notable increase in the seropositivity in the pediatric population to SARS-CoV-2 in this study as compared to Serosurvey 3 conducted in March 2021 which showed a sero-positivity of 39.4 per cent in the age group of 18 or more years, which indicates that a significant proportion of children accessing the healthcare services were exposed to the virus during the second wave of Covid-19.

Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai decided to do a sero-survey as it is anticipated that the third wave will affect children disproportionately. This sero-survey was conducted during April 1, 2021 to June 15, 2021. These blood samples were made available from the samples received in laboratories for various medical investigations and were transported from public and private laboratories to Kasturba Molecular Laboratory.

Across 24 wards of Mumbai, a total of 2,176 blood samples were collected from pathology laboratories.

In June, a serological surveillance study spearheaded by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had found that seroprevalence among children was 55.7 per cent across five study sites, in comparison to 63.5 per cent among adults.