ICMR starts second all-india sero survey; results in Sept
COVID PREVALENCE Around 24k samples from the same 69 districts in 21 states covered in first round to be tested
NEW DELHI: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has begun the second round of its coronavirus disease (Covid-19) sero survey to determine how many more Indians have been exposed to the infection since the first such exercise was conducted in May during the nationwide lockdown.
The results of the sero survey to detect the presence of Covid-19 antibodies in the general population are expected by Septemberend.
The first sero survey, which was conducted by ICMR along with National Centre for Disease Control, state health departments and the World Health Organisation (WHO) had shown pan-india prevalence of SarsCov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, at 0.73%.
Close to 24,000 samples will be collected and tested from the same 69 districts in 21 states that were covered in the first sero survey. The sampling has already begun, with many states finishing sample collection and the others in various stages of completing the process.
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Nitish Kumar, Bihar was in isolation in first week of July CM Bihar after his niece tested positive. He tested negative.
Manohar Lal Khattar, Haryana tested positive on August 24. Admitted to a hospital in Gurugram
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Madhya Pradesh tested positive on July 25 and was hospitalised in Bhopal. He was discharged from the hospital on August 5 and remained in home isolation thereafter for a week.
Jai Ram Thakur, Himachal Pradesh along with his wife Sadhna Thakur went in self qurantine at his a official residence Oak Over after Deputy Secretary in his office had tested
positive for Covid-19 on July 23.
embarked on the second national serosurvey, and it is also a work in progress, and should be completed, hopefully, by the first week of September...most of the sero surveys are looking at antibodies, and other details like neutralizing antibodies, T-cell
B S Yediyurappa, Karnataka tested positive for Covid on August 2 and was discharged from hospital on August 13
Pinayari Vijayan, Kerala went into isolation on Aug 14 for 10 days after several officials with whom he had visited Calicut aircraft crash site tested positive.
Trivendra Singh Rawat, Uttarakhand is in self-isolation since Wednesday after three of his staffers including an officer on special duty (OSD) tested positive for Covid-19 in the last few days.
Hemant Soren, Jharkhand has been in isolation thrice — from
July 9 to 11, August 1 to 4, and
August 19 to 23 — after a member of his staff tested positive for the infection
responses etc. are not being studied in these large sero surveys,” said ICMR director general Balram Bhargava.
The blood samples for the sero survey will be tested for the presence of Immunoglobulin (IGG) antibodies against Sars-cov2.
Sero surveys are important also to determine whether the disease has entered the community transmission stage
“This Phase II sero survey is a follow up of the first survey, and the process is a repeat of what was done in May when movement of people was restricted. We have to see how much difference has lifting of lockdown made to the disease prevalence in the country. Same areas/clusters will be covered this time also, but samples will be lifted of different people,” said an official from ICMR, requesting not to be identified.
ICMR’S National Institute of Epidemiology in Chennai is the nodal agency to oversee the survey and will be processing samples, and analyzing the results.
Like in the previous exercise, this survey is designed as a crosssectional survey of adults aged 18 years or more from 21 states, wherein the districts were categorized into four strata according to the reported Covid-19 cases per million population (zero, low: 0.1-4.7, medium: 4.8-10 and high: >10).
The focus, say some experts, must not be merely on detecting antibodies in the population. “Even if you get to know people have developed antibodies, it is not good enough; what is important is to know the quality of antibodies and to determine whether people will get immunity against the disease in the long run or not,” said Dr Lalit Kant, former head, epidemiology and communicable diseases, ICMR.