Children in Ludhiana district have 72% seropositivity rate: Survey

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 12

The children between six and 17 years of age in Ludhiana district have shown a high Covid seropositivity rate in the country’s first-ever survey exclusively conducted on younger population not yet eligible for Covid vaccination in the country, the government has confirmed.

An average of 72 per cent children in the 6-17 year age bracket have been found with antibodies to the SARS-COV-2 virus, the results of sentinel sero-surveillance survey have revealed.

In Punjab, the average sero-positivity among the younger population aged between six and 17 years was found to be 59.9 per cent.

This was a bit lower than 67.2 per cent sero-prevalence shown among adults in the fourth serological survey conducted by the Indian Council of Medical and Research (ICMR) in four districts of Punjab — Ludhiana, Patiala, Jalandhar, and Gurdaspur — last month.

While the paediatric survey, which was conducted by the Health and Family Welfare Department in the last week of July, was completed in 14 districts, it was still underway in the rest of nine districts.

The results of the state’s third sentinel sero-surveillance survey and the first in India so far to assess the prevalence of the virus infection among children, a copy of which is with The Tribune, showed that 883 of the total 1,472 samples tested so far have been found with antibodies against the Covid virus.

While the highest of 82 per cent sero-positivity among the young population aged six to 17 years was found in Moga district, Faridkot revealed the lowest rate of 48 per cent in the state.

Kapurthala stood second with 73 per cent seropositivity, while Ludhiana ranked third in the state with 72 per cent of its children with antibodies against Covid virus.

Each district and medical college was supposed to collect 92 samples each — equal from rural and urban areas — to conduct the survey, which was based on analysis of antibodies collected through blood samples.

While Amritsar and Faridkot collected 184 samples each, Ludhiana and Fazilka examined 93 samples each, whereas the other 10 districts tested 92 samples each.

Among other districts, Tarn Taran showed 67 per cent seropositivity, Malerkotla 65 per cent, Fazilka 64, Fatehgarh Sahib 62, Amritsar 60, Sangrur 54, Ropar 53, Jalandhar 52, Bathinda 50 and Gurdaspur 49.

The districts, where the survey is still underway, included Patiala, Ferozepur, Muktsar, Nawanshahr, Mohali, Pathankot, Barnala, Hoshiarpur and Mansa.

With the collection of 1,820 samples so far, the state has achieved 76.1 per cent of the targeted 2,392 samples.

As many as 10 per cent of the total infected persons in the first and second Covid waves in the state were under 18.