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COVID 3rd Wave Unlikely to Affect Children More: AIIMS, WHO Study

Children are unlikely to be affected disproportionately if a third wave of COVID-19 pandemic hit India, found an interim result of an ongoing study jointly conducted by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The study, which is yet to be peer reviewed, has revealed that sero positivity among children is high and comparable to the adult population. The study was conducted in five states in India with samples from both rural and urban areas and included 10,000 children between the ages of 2-17.

“The seroprevalence was 55.7 percent in the below 18 years age group and 63.5 percent in the above 18 years age group,” the findings stated.

Also Read: FAQ: Are Kids Really at Greater Risk If 3rd Wave of COVID Strikes?

The interim analysis results are based on the data of 4,500 participants from four states. Blood samples of these participants were tested for total serum antibody or seroprevalence with the help of standard ELISA kit.

Speaking to FIT during a livestream, Dr Rakesh Mishra, former director of CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad said, “We haven't seen anything in the virus that indicates it prefers certain age-groups.”

Speaking in the same live stream, Dr Giridhar Babu, epidemiologist and professor at Public Health Foundation of India, added:

“The virus will seek those who are uninfected. So, any age-group that is uninfected or unvaccinated, the virus will find them when it transmits. These people, who we call susceptible, are at a risk of catching the virus in the future waves.”

Also Read: India Reports Over 62k Fresh COVID-19 Cases, Deaths at 3.83 Lakh

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