NEW DELHI, Feb 5: A large proportion of Indians still remain vulnerable to coronavirus infection as only 20% of the population has been exposed to the virus and the vaccination that has just started will take longer to show results.

According to the results of the latest serological tests undertaken by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), one in five Indians above the age of 18 has been exposed to covid virus.

The ICMR Director-General Dr Balram Bhargava, releasing the report, indicated that the threat from the pandemic is still live and cautioned against lowering one's guard. A very large proportion of people is still susceptible to catching the infection, he said.

“A large population still remains vulnerable to the virus, and vaccination is the key along with Covid-19 appropriate behaviour to stop the spread of the virus,” Bhargava said.

The third nationwide sero survey tested samples from 28,589 people for antibodies between December 17 and January 8.

The results indicate that a large majority of Indians remains susceptible to the virus even as the vaccination drive launched on January 16 will take several months to immunise a substantial number of people.

A serological test detects antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2, indicating a possible symptomatic or asymptomatic past infection.

In children between the ages of 10 and 17, the prevalence was 25.3%, and people above the age of 60 showed a prevalence of 23.4%, the report showed. In the general population, the prevalence was higher in urban slums (31.7%), followed by non-urban slums (26.2%), and rural areas (19.1%).

Doctors and nurses were affected the most with a sero prevalence of 26.6%, followed by paramedical staff (25.4%), field staff (25.3%), and administration staff (24.9%).

The pan-India survey was conducted in the same areas where the earlier two surveys were conducted.

The first sero survey conducted in May-June last year showed 0.73% sero prevalence, while the second one done in August-September later showed overall prevalence of 6.6%.