Serosurvey launched in Telangana to assess community spread of Covid

Hyderabad, Jan 4 (IANS) The ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition and Government of Telangana on Tuesday launched a state-wide SARS COV-2 serosurvey.

The survey will be conducted among general population and healthcare workers, in all the districts of Telangana and aims to assess the extent of community spread of the infection in the state.

The sero-prevalence will be assessed by examining the SARS Cov-2, IgG antibodies in the blood samples to be collected from the general population and Health Care Workers (HCW) across the districts, said ADr Avula Laxmaiah, Scientist G and Head, Public Health Nutrition Division, ICMR-NIN who is leading the survey.

The house-to-house survey will cover 330 villages in all the 33 districts and several wards of the state. The state government is supporting this survey. The state health department and other administrative departments are collaborating with ICMR-NIN.

About 16,000 people will be covered in this survey. The authorities will select 10 villages randomly in each of the 33 districts and from each village 40 people above 6 years of age from, both males and females will be covered.

"In addition, samples and data will also be collected from healthcare workers in all the districts", said Dr Avula Laxmaiah.

"Over 20 teams each with a scientist/doctor, technician and phlebotomist, 4 coordinators, one Lead Scientist from NIN will work in tandem with the state health department to complete the survey in about 3 weeks," said Dr Hemalatha R, Director, ICMR-NIN.