Herd immunity may slow down spread of Covid-19, say experts

BHAGALPUR: Experts at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital (JLNMCH), a dedicated Covid hospital in Bhagalpur, have claimed that as soon as 70% herd immunity in humans is attained, Covid-19 infection may slow down.
Dr Raj Kamal Choudhary, associate professor in the department of medicine at JLNMCH, said that such assertions are being made on the basis of ‘seroconversion survey’ under the direction of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) by taking random samples in Bhagalpur and other districts of Bihar.
Dr Choudhary, who had worked in World Health Organization (WHO) for several years as sub-regional coordinator, said that the human body immune system responds by producing antibodies in response to the virus and this is known as seroconversion. “Antibodies appear within one to two weeks and continue to increase in the months after infection. seroconversion takes place within three weeks in majority of infected individuals and the immune system’s capacity to fight the infection starts increasing,” he said.
Deliberating on the findings of the serocoversion study, Dr Choudhary said, “The seroconversion analysis of random samples of human beings, who were asymptomatic for Covid-19, in the past two-months exhibited that 18.6% had antibodies for the virus and was found heading towards herd immunity. If the percentage increases to 70%, then the spread of Covid-19 will slow down.”
Dr Choudhary said that approximately 24,000 random samples from different states and union territories (UTs), including Covid hotspot cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Thane, Goutam Budh Nagar (Noida), Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, Indore, Jaipur, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Patna, Bangalore and Gurugram among others were taken for seroconversion survey. “The data of seroconversion survey was released by Niti Aayog recently,” he said.
Dr Choudhary said there is no need to panic about Covid-19 pandemic but rather people need to follow the safety protocol for curbing its spread and keep oneself healthy to boost body immunity.
“Herd Immunity in human beings is the resistance to fight a contagious disease. It occurs when a large section of the community becomes immune to a disease. As a result, the spread of disease from person to person becomes unlikely and the whole community becomes protected,” he said.