Tamil Nadu: 88% Adults, 68% Children Have Covid Antibodies, Shows Fourth Serosurvey Result

Serosurvey in October-November showed seropositivity rate of 32% among the people of the southern state, 29% in April 2021 and 70% in July-August last year.

New Delhi: The result of the fourth serosurvey, conducted in the last week of December in Tamil Nadu, shows that 88% of the adult population and 68% of children above the age of 10 years have developed protective level of Covid antibodies.

Serosurvey in October-November showed seropositivity rate of 32% among the people of the southern state, 29% in April 2021 and 70% in July-August last year.

However, the fourth serosurvey is the first time that children between the age bracket of 10 and 18 were tested.

According to T S Selvavinayagam, director, public health and preventive medicine, who also supervised the survey, as quoted by Mint, said, “They were unvaccinated at the time of the survey and also had detectable levels of IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, which is indirect evidence regarding their exposure to the infection.”

The cross-sectional survey for SARS-CoV-2 infection transmission that was taken up by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine before the beginning of the Omicron-driven third wave in the country, covered 32,245 individuals aged above 10 years in 1,076 clusters across Tamil Nadu.

Out of the 32,245 participants in the survey, a total of 27,324 (85%) were vaccinated. Among them 90% (24,667) had detectable levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies and among the 4,921 unvaccinated individuals, 3,374 (69%) had anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies, the Directorate further said.

The Directorate further said that it was clear that the vaccinated individuals have better detectable levels of the Covid antibodies as compared to the non-vaccinated population. Among the 27,324 vaccinated individuals, more than 80% seropositivity was observed in people who had taken either Covaxin or Covishield vaccines.

T.S. Selvavinayagam further said, “Purely based on the scientific evidence available as of now, we can hope that we can go back to normal life soon, along with the co-existence of COVID-19. The 87% reactivity in the serosurvey indicates that we have sufficient protective levels of antibodies and 90% coverage with at least one dose of vaccination,” as quoted in a report in The Hindu.