Chandigarh, Jul 6 (IANS): As much as 69 per cent children in Chandigarh tested positive for antibodies in an interim sero survey report, the PGI Hospital said on Tuesday.

The PGI is carrying out the COVID-19 sero survey in children between six and 18 years of age and the study is funded by the UT Administration.

The survey, which was kick started on June 24, is progressing at a good pace, PGI Director Jagat Ram said.

He said the survey among the paediatric population is of utmost importance since there is news that third wave can affect children.

Till date, blood samples of 756 children had been collected for the sero survey out of which 519 had tested positive for IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, meaning almost 69 per cent of children had been previously infected.

Dr Mini P. Singh said the testing is being carried out using a high throughput CLIA machine available in the Department of Virology so that reports can be made available in a short span of time.

P.V.M. Lakshmi, who is coordinating the field activity of the survey, said that serosurvey teams have been divided into four groups, each consisting of a field investigator and a laboratory technician, who undertook household visits in different sectors, villages, and slums.

Out of all children enrolled till July 4, 396 samples were collected from households of Sectors 22, 24, 36, 56 and 11, which showed positivity in 65 per cent of samples (257 positive out of 396) and 360 samples were collected from households of Burail, Maloya, Dhanas, Attawa and Khajeri villages, which showed positivity of 73 per cent (262 out of 360).

These are the interim results and the study aims to collect around 2,700 samples in total which will provide a clearer picture of the actual percentage of children who had been infected during first and second waves in Chandigarh.