Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Centre for Disease Control are going to initiate a population-based sero-survey in selected districts in collaboration with key stakeholders and State Health Departments. The objective of this survey is to monitor the trend in prevalence of COVID-19 infection at district level.
A sero-survey involves testing of blood serum of a group of individuals. Actually, it is a blood test to detect the presence of antibodies against a microorganism. A serologic test can determine whether a person has been exposed to a particular microorganism.
- In the survey, 200 samples per district per week and 800 samples per district per month shall be taken. From each district, 10 health facilities including six public and four private health facilities shall be selected.
- Population groups including outpatient attendees, pregnant women and health care workers will be covered under the survey. The samples will be tested in a one-time pool of 25 and result of sample pooling is only for surveillance purposes.
- In addition to throat, nasal swabs, blood samples will be collected for detecting IgG antibodies for ELISA testing. In subsequent rounds, IgG ELISA based testing of serum samples will replace RT-PCR based testing for surveillance purpose.
Source: AIR, US Gov, Times of India
