Last Update: February 08, 2023, 16:34 IST
According to government data, around 4.5 crore people have been infected with COVID-19 in India so far (Representational Image)
A study led by researchers from the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) suggests that the actual COVID19 infection in India may be almost 17 times higher than the official figure.
in actual COVID-19 infection India A study led by researchers from the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) suggests that this could be almost 17 times higher than the official figure.
According to government data, around 4.5 crore people have been infected with COVID-19 in India so far. However, the study published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases (IJID) estimated that the actual corona virus The cases in the country can be between 58 to 98 crores.
According to a BHU statement, research has shown that the actual corona infection in India was at least 17 times higher.
“The discrepancy observed in our study is due to the huge number of asymptomatic people, which was many times more than the actual official infection,” said BHU geneticist Professor Dnyaneshwar Choubey.
“Asymptomatic cases were more inclined towards the younger population,” said Choubey, who led the study.
The study involved 88 scientists from 34 research institutes across the country.
The team conducted a serosurvey (antibody testing) among 2,301 individuals in urban areas of fourteen Indian districts across six states during the month of September-December 2020.
Researchers said the most important aspect of this study was that a large proportion of the Indian population was asymptomatic for Covid infection and the age group 26-35 had the maximum number of people without symptoms.
He added that antibody tests in people after any coronavirus wave give an accurate assessment of actual infection.
The team conducted research among people living in urban areas of fourteen Indian districts – street vendors – who are most at risk of corona infection.
“For the first time, we have used a novel approach to estimate the frequency of infected people in a certain geographical area,” said Prajwal Pratap Singh of BHU, first author of the study.
Samples of only those people were taken who self-reported that they had never had any symptoms of Covid or RT PCR test positive.
The minimum proportion of antibody positive persons was observed in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh (2 percent), while the maximum proportion of antibody positive persons was found in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh (47 percent).
The research also showed that the cases reported by the government were many times lower than the actual cases of infection.
Researchers said that through mathematical calculations, it was estimated that the actual cases of corona in India are between 58 and 98 crores.
“Comprehensive serosurveillance has enabled us to give a clearer picture than antigen testing or RT-PCR testing,” said BHU professor VN Mishra, who led the clinical trials in the study.
India recorded 96 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, while the number of active cases rose to 1,785, according to Union Health Ministry data.
With the new cases, the total tally stands at 4.46 crore (4,46,83,639). The death toll rose to 5,30,746 with one death reported from Uttar Pradesh, the data said.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)