PGI to begin sero survey for children in region soon

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 12

The PGI is all set to start a serological survey of children in the age group of two to 18 years this month to determine the burden of Covid-19 infection at the community level among children in Chandigarh.

Since children have not been covered for vaccination against the virus and given that an anticipated third wave is expected to affect children more than adults, the result of the survey will help understand the prevalence of antibodies in them. – Prof Jagat Ram, Director of PGI

The survey will be conducted in 10 slums/resettlement, 10 sectors and as many villages of the Chandigarh region. Director of PGI Jagat Ram said: “We are working on its modalities like ethical clearance, logistic arrangement and planning, such as from which part of Chandigarh’s rural and urban areas, the samples will be collected for checking the prevalence of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen in them.”

“The launch of the survey will be in the next seven to 10 days and the sample size will be 2,500-2,700,” he said.

Prof Jagat Ram said the results of the samples would be out within one month of the launch of the survey.

“Since children have not been covered for vaccination against the virus and given that an anticipated third wave is expected to affect children more than adults, the result of the survey will help understand the prevalence of antibodies in them,” he added.

A community health expert of the PGI, who is part of this survey, said: “The results of the survey will tell us whether the schools should be opened as well as the need for vaccination among children. A lot of people have been infected in the second wave and the survey will give us an idea about the prevalence of infection among the community and also about the group of population that remains susceptible to infection in the third wave.” The Administrator had directed that a sero-survey should be conducted in the entire city. The PGI will conduct sero tests for persons below 18 years of age and the entire expenses will be borne by the Chandigarh Administration. The Government Medical College and Hospital will conduct the sero survey of persons above the age of 18 years.

What is sero survey

The sero survey examines how many people in a population have been infected with Covid-19 and recovered from it. It is done to identify the prevalence of the virus in a particular area. The survey is conducted by using an antibody test, also known as a serology test. It examines if an individual’s immune system has responded to the infection. It is important to carry out the survey to know the prevalence of the disease in the population as only cases reported to the authorities are known. But, there are several cases that don’t come to notice for various reasons such as being asymptomatic or people didn’t report. So, the sero survey gives a rough idea of the population exposed to the virus. The sero survey also helps in knowing what percentage of a population has developed immunity against the virus.