Study of Seroprevalence of SARS CoV2 antibodies in children in a diagnostic centre of Central India-a retrospective study

Abstract

It is said that children are less affected by SARSCoV2 infection because of their young immune system, so they have relatively milder symptoms as compared to adults. So the true incidence of SARSCoV2 is not known in this age group. Serosurveys in the paediatric age group can give a much better estimate of the incidence of SARSCoV2 infection in asymptomatic and symptomatic childrenThe present study was undertaken to study the seroprevalence of SARSCoV2 antibodies in children below 18 years of age, by measuring the S1RBD domain of spike protein neutralizing IgG antibody levels.This was a retrospective study carried out from August 2020 to August 2021 in a private diagnostic centre of Central India. 539 children of both genders from newborn babies upto 18 years of age were included in the study. US FDA Emergency Use Authorized [EUA], Atellica Solution SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay that detects anti S1-RBD antibodies including neutralizing IgG against SARS-CoV-2 was used for antibody estimation. Antibody level ≥1 was termed reactive or seropositive and below 1 were considered to be non reactive or seroneagtive There were 321 males and 218 females with a male to female ratio of 1.47 :1. 57% male children were seropositive while 61.9% female children showed seropositivity with an overall positivity rate of 58.99%.The findings of our study suggest that chidren below 5 years and adolescents exhibit higher antibody responses as compared to children between 5-10 years of age. The results of our study would be of help in formulating surveillance and vaccination strategies for children and in implementing public safety guidelines.