Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in children and factors affecting the sero-positivity

ABSTRACT

912 Table 1Association of demographic and clinical features with serology status of SARS-CoV-2Results88 pediatric patients up to the age of 18 years attending the pediatric department at AIIMS Patna were enrolled for the study. Only two patients had history of positive RT-PCR test for COVID-19 infection in the past. 63.6% (56 out of 88) had seropositive status against SARS-Cov-2. Various demographic and clinical variables described in table 1 were analysed and none of the demographic features had statistically significant association with serology status of SARS-CoV-2. Out of 88 children, 57 (64.8%) were males and 31(35.2%) were females. 58% of the children were from urban areas and 42% were from rural areas. The majority of the patients i.e 58 (65.9%) belonged to lower socioeconomic class and 30 (34.0%) belonged to upper class according to modified Kuppuswamy scale 2021. The corticosteroid therapy was received by 13 patients for various clinical indications among which 5 (38%) had seropositive status and 8(61.5%) had seronegative status against SARS-CoV-2 and the association was statistically significant with p-value of 0.041and Odd’s ratio ( 95% CI) of 0.29 (0.087-0.994) suggesting that patients who received corticosteroid therapy had 29% lesser chances of getting seropositive status compared to those who did not receive the therapy.ConclusionAmong the participants, 63.6% were seropositive against SARS-CoV-2 while only 2.2% had history of COVID 19 RTPCR positivity in past. The patients who received corticosteroids had lesser chances of getting positive antibody status against SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to those who did not receive the same.