Children unlikely to get hit by COVID-19 third wave: WHO-AIIMS Study reveals

The sero-positivity rate among children is high and comparable to the adult population which means the coronavirus is unlikely to affect children more than the adult population.

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New Delhi: The sero-positivity rate of SARS-CoV-2 among children is high and comparable to the adult population which means the coronavirus is unlikely to affect children more than the adult population in any future wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This according to the interim findings of an ongoing study as part of an ongoing multi-centric, population-based, age-stratified prospective COVID-19 sero-prevalence study under WHO (World Health Organization) Unity studies conducted by experts, including doctors from the AIIMS in five selected states.

AIIMS chief Director Randeep Guleria and Professors from the Department of Centre for Community Medicine Puneet Misra, Shashi Kant and Sanjay K Rai were a part of the study.

The interim findings that appeared on a pre-print server are based on a mid-term analysis of the data of around 4,509 participants from across five states. With 700 children in the 2-17 years age bracket and 3,809 people aged 18 years and over.

The data collection period was from March 15 to June 10 from Delhi Urban Resettlement Colony, Delhi Rural (villages in Faridabad district of Haryana under Delhi-NCR), Bhubaneswar Rural, Gorakhpur rural and Agartala rural.