Serological survey to include more children, details yet to be finalised

The third round of a statewide serological survey, which has been postponed by the state health department, will now include over 30,000 participants across the state instead of 8,800 people, according to senior health officials. It will cover a large number of individuals aged below 18 years to study the prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus among lower age groups (6-17 years). The date for the survey is yet to be finalised

The third round of a statewide serological survey, which has been postponed by the state health department, will now include over 30,000 participants across the state instead of 8,800 people, according to senior health officials. It will cover a large number of individuals aged below 18 years to study the prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus among lower age groups (6-17 years). The date for the survey is yet to be finalised.

The third round of serological survey in Haryana will include 30,000 people, said officials. (Vipin Kumar /HT PHOTO)

“The sample size for the survey has been increased to almost 30,000, which was earlier 8,800 across the state. Children will be included in large numbers to check the presence of IgG antibodies in their blood. A state-level meeting is scheduled on Monday to finalise the age-wise coverage and final dates for the survey,” said Dr Dhruv Chaudhary, state nodal officer for Covid-19.

A serological survey is done to detect the body’s immune response to coronavirus infection. Blood samples collected to check IgG antibodies provide information on the proportion of the population having antibodies even if they did not have symptoms or receive a diagnosis of Covid-19.

Earlier, over 3,520 children aged six to 17 years were to be covered in the third round of the serological survey scheduled on June 15 and 16. Across the state, a total of 8,800 participants were to be tested for antibodies, of which, 5280 were to be adults, 2,640 children of 10-17 years and 880 children of six to nine years.

Meanwhile, as part of a nationwide serological survey that covered 4,509 participants across the country, Faridabad’s Translational Health Sciences and Technology Institute covered 1,059 people in Ballabhgargh. This included 189 individuals younger than 18 years and 870 aged above 18 years.

The survey, which was released in June, showed that 61.4% of children younger than 18 years and 58.8% above 18 years had antibodies to fight the infection. Officials said that as per the results of the survey, children and adults will be equally impacted.

“The infectivity data of the first and the second wave shows that infection has been prevalent across all age groups. Even the nationwide serosurvey predicts a similar result. The state-level survey will give us further evidence,” said Dr Chaudhary.

To prepare for a possible third wave, the district health department has set up a 20-bed paediatric unit at Polyclinic in Sector 31, private hospitals have been directed to strengthen their paediatric intensive care units and neonatal care units, and almost 100 beds have been reserved for children at a makeshift Covid care facility in Sector 67. Hospitals have been given till July 10 to submit details on the beds and medical facilities in this regard.