Sero survey begins in all 10 districts of Kashmir to gauge Covid-19 impact
Jammu and Kashmir has so far recorded 87,942 Covid-19 cases out of which 77,886 people have recovered while 1,379 have died.
The health department has begun a sero survey that will cover all ten districts of Kashmir to gauge the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the region.
Two such surveys have already been conducted in Pulwama district.
Besides the Government Medical College Srinagar, the Medical Colleges of Baramulla and Anantnag, SKIMS and SKIMS Medical College will be conducting the sero survey.
The second sero-survey in Kashmir’s Pulwama had revealed that 27 per cent of the population has developed Covid-19 antibodies as opposed to 2 per cent of the population three months ago.
“Each district will be taken into consideration for assessing the whole of Kashmir. It is being done in collaboration with Directorate of Health Services Kashmir and involves all five medical colleges in training, mentoring and monitoring,” said Dr Muhammad Salim Khan, head of community medicine, Government Medical College, Srinagar.
“Each medical college will train and monitor two districts. SKIMS, SKIMS Medical College, GMC Anantnag and GMC Baramulla are part of study. The Directorate of Health Services is collaborating in field activities. The study is supported by J&K National Health Mission.”
Khan said the sero survey has already begun. “The survey in Srinagar is already underway in collaboration with Chief Medical Officer Srinagar.”
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had earlier conducted the second national sero-survey for Covid-19 in August to monitor the trends of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in India.
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“The second round of the ICMR’s national sero-survey for SARS COV-2 infection (Covid-19) in Pulwama district showed prevalence of 27.3 per cent. In the first round, in June, it was only 2 per cent,” said Dr Khan, who is the nodal person for the ICMR’s national sero-survey for Pulwama district.
The community-based surveillance was conducted across 60 districts and 10 hotspot sites across all states and Union territories to map the changing trend of the population’s response to SARS COV-2 infection over the months.
The first round was held in May and June this year where the prevalence of IgG antibody was found 0.73 per cent among the general population in the country. During the survey, blood samples were collected to determine the prevalence of infection in the recent past and the body’s immune response to the SARS CoV-2 infection.
In the second round in Pulwama district, 413 blood samples were collected in ten different clusters of which 113 reported to be positive for IgG antibodies against SARS CoV-2 infection which makes it 27.3 per cent.
“Sona Samilo village cluster showed the highest, 52.5 per cent, positive prevalence while Khaigam recorded the lowest prevalence at 2.5 per cent,” Khan said.
The district was chosen in the first survey as it was a low-risk district depending on the number of cases per million population.
So far, Jammu and Kashmir has recorded 87,942 Covid-19 cases out of which 77,886 people have recovered while 1,379 have died in the Union territory till Monday. Srinagar and Jammu districts have recorded the maximum deaths.
Experts say this is the first wide range of sero sampling in which samples will be taken from 10 districts. Recently a similar survey was conducted in Jammu district which showed that 8.2 per cent of the surveyed population has antibodies.
“The survey is important to know how much of the population has been infected and will help to formulate a strategy ahead of the winter,” a senior consultant at Government Medical College Baramulla said.
