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TOPIC: General Studies 2
- Response to COVID-19 Crisis
In News: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have decided to conduct a population-based 'sero survey' in select districts of the country with an aim to monitor the trend in the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes the Covid-19 disease. The move was announced after the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 2,293 and the total number of cases climbed to 70,756 in the country
The survey will be coordinated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR’s) National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE) and National Institute of Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), Chennai.
What is sero-survey? A serosurvey involves testing of blood serum of a group of individuals to determine the presence of antibodies against that infection. The facility-oriented surveillance is an expansion of the testing of flu and serious respiratory cases in hospitals being carried out by the government.
Why sero-testing? There is a need to establish systematic surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 infection in all districts of the country. This surveillance will be in addition to the routine testing as per current testing guidelines
The outcomes will help in designing and implementing suitable Coronavirus containment measures.
There is no evidence yet of community transmission in the country. There are large outbreaks in some clusters but the sharp exponential rise in cases as in community transmission has not happened.
How does the survey work?
A sero-survey involves testing of blood serum of a group of individuals to determine the presence of antibodies against that infection. People from Red, Orange and Green zones in a district will be tested for COVID-19 at random to check if they have developed antibodies against the infection even though they are asymptomatic or show mild symptoms.
The survey will involve collection of venous blood samples from 400 randomly selected individuals (one per household) from 10 clusters in each selected district, divided into low risk and high risk groups.
Post the survey –
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