TS to conduct COVID-19 sero-prevalence survey from 4 Jan

Hyderabad: A sero-prevalence survey on SARS Cov-2 will be conducted in Telangana jointly by Hyderabad-based ICMR's National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and state government from 4 January. The house-to-house survey will cover 330 villages in all 33 districts and several wards of the state.

The survey will be conducted among the general population and health care 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 SARS Cov-2, IgG antibodies in the blood samples that will be collected from the general population and health care workers (HCW) across the districts.

"About 16,000 people will be covered in this survey. In each of the 33 districts, 10 villages will be selected randomly and from each village, 40 people above six years of age, both males and females, will be covered. In addition, samples and data will also be collected from health care workers in all the districts," said Dr. Avula Laxmaiah, scientist and head of public health nutrition division, ICMR-NIN, who is leading the survey.

Dr. Hemalatha R, the director of ICMR-NIN, said, "Over 20 teams each with a scientist/doctor, technician and phlebotomist (one who is trained in drawing blood from veins for testing or donation), four coordinators, one lead scientist from NIN will work in tandem with the state health department to complete the survey in about three weeks."