73% People In Odisha, Including Children Have Covid Antibodies: ICMR Sero Survey

Seventy-three percent people in Odisha have developed antibodies against Covid-19. This information was given by director of RMRC (Regional Medical Research Centre), Sanghamitra Pati on Sunday (Sept 26).

The senior official informed that a recent serological survey was conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in 12 districts of Odisha to estimate and compare the age-specific, region-specific and gender-specific prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among people.

For the first time, children below 18 years were included in the state-level serological survey. During the survey, the ICMR found that 93 per cent of health workers have developed antibodies against Covid-19, while 70 per cent of children have also developed antibodies against the virus.

The sero-prevalence was around 70 per cent in the 6-10 years age group, while it was 74% for the 11-18 years age group. The survey also found that sero-prevalence was highest in Khordha district with 81 per cent, and lowest in Jajpur, Mayurbhanj and Jharsuguda with 68 per cent.

It was also found that there were no differences between urban-rural regions or male-female with respect to sero-prevalence or vaccine coverage.

Video Editor: Surendra Pradhan

Producer: Diptyranjita Patra