ICMR PLANS 4TH NATIONWIDE SERO SURVEY

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is planning to conduct a fourth serological survey across the country to assess the prevalence of Sars-cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, following the massive second wave in the country, said experts familiar with the plan.

“It is currently being discussed and will be announced formally by the director general of ICMR,” said Dr Samiran Panda, head, epidemiology and communicable diseases division, ICMR.

Experts say sero surveys are the key to knowing disease prevalence and taking countermeasures. In the current scenario, a fresh sero survey can help the government decide when to ease restrictions on movement. “Quick rounds of sero surveys can be conducted to know the antibody prevalence that will help in opening up accordingly. I suspect that the positivity rate, which has gone down, is largely due to natural infection,” said Dr Sanjay Rai, professor, community medicine department, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi.

Experts also say that the fourth survey will be different from the other three surveys as apart from a sudden, massive surge, a section of the population has also been vaccinated in the past four months. “What we look for in a sero survey is the presence of antibodies against the virus, and at this stage the antibodies seen could be because of not only infection but also vaccination,” Dr Panda said.

NEW DELHI: