A pan-India serosurvey carried out by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research across its close to 40 institutes has found that the seropositivity for COVID-19 was lower among smokers and vegetarians, thus suggesting that they may have a lesser risk of contracting the viral disease.

In addition, people with blood group O may be less vulnerable to the infection, and those with B and AB blood groups had a higher risk. Among 10,427 individuals assessed, 1,058 (10.14%) were found to have antibodies against the coronavirus. A follow-up of 346 seropositive subjects after three months demonstrated stable to higher antibody levels against the virus, though there was decreasing plasma activity for neutralizing the virus. Repeat sampling was done for 35 individuals at six months which showed diminishing antibody levels; however, the neutralizing antibody continued to be stable compared to three months. Both the normal antibody and the neutralizing antibody were found to be much above the threshold needed, noted authors… (HT – PTI, January 18, 2021)