PANAJI: The ongoing sero survey in children under 18 years in this country has revealed that 20-25% of children in South Goa and 14.5% in North Goa have antibodies with SARS-COV-2 which causes covid.
The first sero survey of children committed by the North Goa Regency Hospital and South Goa are expected to be completed by the end of this month.
“We want to find out how many children are infected and asymptomatic by doing an antibody test.
This is done for children who do not have symptoms such as Covid or Covid-19,” said Dr.
Ira Almeida, Head of the Pediatric Department, Hospicio Hospital.
In South Goa, more than 600 children have been filtered so far and the plan is to cover 400 more children.
Southern Goa survey is likely to be completed in two weeks.
In northern cave, only 165 children were filtered so far and the survey would take longer because it began only in June, because the district hospital treats Covid-19 to two weeks ago.
So far surveys have thrown surprising results, and even one year old children have been found positive.
“We did an antibody test for toddlers who were brought for immunization and some of them had antibodies.
That means their mother is positive and they don’t know it,” Almeida said.
In Mumbai, the level of participation among children is 50% but in cave, it seems lacking.
The survey, he said, would reveal a burden for the expected third wave.
Experts have warned that children can be infected in a greater amount if there is a third wave, because the population is vulnerable to not vaccinated.
“The proportion of positive children tested in the antibody survey in North Goa is less than South Goa.
Our sample size is small, when we started only a month ago,” said Dr.
Chetna Khemei, a senior pediatrician at the North Goa District Hospital.
Khemani said that seropositivity levels could be more in southern covers, because during the second wave, the highest Covid-19 case in Margao and Ponda.
Although Panaji, Porvorim and Candolim also have a high coax, the two centers in South Goa are relatively the highest and still carried out.
“In the second wave, the whole family was found positively, not just one or two members.
When a family is full of affected, children stand open, and they may or may not have symptoms,” he said.