Gurugram: Sero survey to identify Covid-19 antibodies will start on Sep 8

The sero survey will cover 3,000 people, including 1,200 children, in Gurugram district. Overall, 36,520 people from 22 districts of the state will take part in the survey, in which children are being included for the first time.

The third round of serological survey to detect Covid-19 antibodies, which was originally scheduled to be held in June, will be conducted from September 8 to 10, officials of the health department said.

Chief medical officer of Gurugram, Dr Virender Yadav, said that children have been included in the sero survey over apprehensions that they might be affected the most in the event of a third wave of Covid-19 infections, as inoculation has not started for them. (HT Archive)

It will be a statewide study to check the prevalence of antibodies in children aged 6 to 17, officials said.

The survey will cover 3,000 people, including 1,200 children, in the district. Overall, 36,520 people from 22 districts of the state will take part in the survey, in which children are being included for the first time.

Chief medical officer of Gurugram, Dr Virender Yadav, said that children have been included over apprehensions that they might be affected the most in the event of a third wave of infections, as inoculation has not started for them.

“It is a cross-sectional study with stratified multistage testing. Since those aged below 18 years are not covered under the vaccination programme, the survey will help in analysing the trend for the third wave of Covid-19 as it is being predicted that children will be affected,” said Yadav.

According to Yadav, 25 clusters will be covered in a day. Blood samples will be collected from 1,800 people above the age of 18 years, 900 from those aged 10 to 17 years and 300 from children aged six to nine years.

At least 40 samples will be collected from each cluster, which will be divided into four quadrants and 10 houses selected from each. Nearly three millilitres of blood will be taken from six adults, three aged 10 to 17 years, and a child aged six to nine years, along with verbal and written consent.

Officials said that 40% of the total samples will be collected from urban areas, while the rest will be from rural areas. For each cluster, a three-member team, comprising a doctor, an auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM), and a lab technician, has been constituted.

Yadav said that all the samples will be taken to the district lab in Panchkula for testing. About 12 supervisors have been assigned for the supervision. In the last two sero surveys held in 2020, samples were tested in Gurugram.

During the first round of serological survey in Gurugram, the seropositivity rate of the urban areas was 18.5%, while in the second round it increased to 25.9%. Likewise, in rural areas, it increased from 5.7% in the first round to 10.1% in the second round. In both surveys, over 800 people were tested for the antibodies.