Second sero survey directed for Ghaziabad, GB Nagar

The Uttar Pradesh government has issued guidelines for the second sero survey that will be conducted from June 4 in all districts, including Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar

The Uttar Pradesh government has issued guidelines for the second sero survey that will be conducted from June 4 in all districts, including Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar.

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The survey will check for the prevalence of antibodies against Covid-19 in the blood samples of a given population size.

The previous survey in September/October last year found the presence of antibodies in 22% of about 16,000 people across 11 districts, including Ghaziabad. District-wise details is unavailable.

This time the government has directed extra teams in four districts, including Ghaziabad, for the survey that will include urban slums. About 1,440 people from 31 randomly selected areas in each district will be tested. Twenty people who had the antibodies in the last year survey will also be included.

Experts said they expect a higher prevalence of antibodies this time round as the second wave ravaged the district to a far greater extent than the first wave.

“The survey should be conducted on the basis of proportional population in urban, rural, semi-urban, slums and other areas. The results of the upcoming survey are expected to be on higher side due to the second wave... antibodies generally last for several months (in patients who recovered from Covid-19). So, this survey will tell what proportion of population will not get affected in case any likely third wave arrives soon,” said Dr Lalit Kant, former epidemiology and communicable diseases head at the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).

GB Nagar district administration said they have begun preparations for the upcoming survey.

“Last year the survey was conducted by the Centre through an institute,” said Suhas LY, district magistrate of GB Nagar.

The officials in the Ghaziabad health department familiar with the development said Ghaziabad had a seroprevalence of nearly 25-26%.

“This time with higher number of cases we expect that the results will show more rate of prevalence of antibodies. We are making preparations for the survey,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate.