Covid-19: Rapid antibody testing to start by the end of the week in Gurugram district

For early detection of Covid-19 cases, the Gurugram district health department is planning to start the rapid antibody blood test by the end of the week. Health

For early detection of Covid-19 cases, the Gurugram district health department is planning to start the rapid antibody blood test by the end of the week. Health officials on Monday said the rapid test would be conducted in a three kilometre radius of the containment zone from where a Covid-19 positive case has been reported. Officials said a team of health workers and doctors would test of all occupants in 50 houses, chosen randomly, in each of the four directions of the containment zone.

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Rajeev Arora, additional chief secretary of the health department, confirmed that the rapid antibody test would be conducted. However, he said the tests would be started only by the end of the week as the kits are yet to be procured.

“The rapid blood test would help us find out whether the patient has had exposure to the virus. For the diagnosis, the Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) would be continued. The guidelines for the rapid antibody test were issued recently by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The test will be done in the most affected districts such as Gurugram, Faridabad, Palwal, and Nuh, as part of intensive screening to restrict the transmission of the coronavirus,” said Arora.

The antibody blood test gives results in 15 minutes, which would speed up Covid-19 screening in the state as there has been a spike in the number of positive cases across districts in the last few days. As of now, there are 25 confirmed coronavirus disease cases in Palwal, followed by Faridabad at 21, Nuh at 14 and Gurugram at nine. According to officials, out of all the positive cases in Palwal, a majority are those who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz event in Delhi’s Nizamuddin last month -- another nine of the total of 25 were identified on Monday as those who had attended the event. With this, the total of confirmed cases in Palwal who had attended the event comes to 24 out of 25 cases.

Currently, there are 70 active Covid-19 cases in the state, with Palwal having the maximum cases at 25, followed by 13 in Faridabad, 14 in Nuh and nine in Gurugram.

On April 4, the ICMR had issued a letter to states on starting rapid antibody-based blood tests for Sars-Cov-2 in clusters with containment zones and large migration gathering or evacuees.

Dr Jaswant Singh Punia, chief medical officer, Gurugram, said a containment strategy has been prepared under which the serological antibody blood test would be conducted. “After a case is reported positive in a particular area, 50 houses in each of the four directions within the three kilometre radius will be covered where rapid antibody blood tests would be done. For every 50 households, Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA), Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) and a medical officer would be appointed,” said Punia.

In such a test, a blood sample is collected to check for antibodies developed by the body’s immune system to fight the virus. The presence of antibodies helps to detect the coronavirus infection in the body.

“For all those whose reports come out positive in the antibody test, nasal/throat swabs will be taken up for the RT-PCR. Even if the antibody test is negative and the medical officer feels that there is a necessity to take a sample for PCR, then throat and nasal swabs would be taken, as per the protocol followed till now,” Punia said.

Punia said for those who are asymptomatic but have contracted the coronavirus, their antibody test will be positive. “There is a possibility of a recent infection. For them, a quarantine period of 10 days will be suggested, after which the rapid antibody test will be done again. If positive and symptomatic, a PCR test will be conducted on the patient and they will be admitted to the hospital for treatment,” said Punia, mentioning that the process will prevent local transmission of the coronavirus.