Two more sero surveys to cover Pune

Community-based sero survey helps identify presence of antibodies among vulnerable population

The city administration will have two more serological surveillance studies conducted by DY Patil medical college and National Institute of Virology (NIV) to assess the presence of antibodies in people, Pune divisional commissioner Saurabh Rao said.

Health workers during a door-to-door screening for coronavirus in a slum near Dandekar bridge in Pune.(Pratham Gokhale/HT Photo)

The findings of first sero survey, conducted by Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) along with Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), will be out by this week. Besides IISER, BJ Medical college, which is attached with government-run Sassoon General Hospital, has sought approval from Rao for another sero survey in the city.

While the DY Patil study will cover Pimpri-Chinchwad area, the area of focus for sero survey to be conducted by NIV is yet to be finalised, said Rao.

“Four surveys will cover Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. First survey by IISER is almost over. The remaining three, one each by DY Patil college, NIV and Sassoon hospital will be done in the coming days,” told Rao to reporters in Pune through video conferencing on Tuesday.

As part of sero survey, ISSER has joined hands with SPPU and has collected random blood samples from 1,550 persons from slum and non-slum pockets from five wards.

The community-based sero survey helps identify presence of antibodies among vulnerable population. The presence of antibodies indicates that the infected person has developed resistance to the virus.