15-20% in Delhi have antibodies: sero survey

Context:

• 15-20% of the over 22,000 people tested randomly has developed antibodies as per the finding of Sero survey.

Sero Survey:

• Uses serology tests to identify people that have antibodies against an infectious disease.
• Part of a ‘Revised COVID Response Plan’ by the Delhi Government.
• Coordinated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR’s) National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE) and National Institute of Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), Chennai.
• Involves testing of blood serum of a group of individuals.

Significance:

• Estimate the problem of infection at the community level.
• Check for the community transmission.
• Generate evidence on role of asymptomatic and mild infections in transmission.

Method of Conducting :

• Will be conducted at 10 health facilities (six public and four private).
• Will test outpatient attendees and pregnant women (constituting the low-risk group), and frontline healthcare workers (constituting high-risk population).
• Throat and nasal swabs will be collected for RT-PCR tests.
• Blood samples would be collected for detecting Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies for ELISA testing.
• Collection of Data on demographic characteristics.

Reference: https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/15-20-in-delhi-have-antibodies-sero-survey/article32048548.ece