About 20 Percent of Andhra Pradesh's Population Has Developed Antibodies for Covid-19: Study

A serological survey that was conducted last month in Andhra Pradesh has detected Covid-19 antibodies in about 20% of the state's 5.34 crore people. The survey was held in two phases with the sample size of 5,000 all 13 districts, establishing that 19.7 per cent of the had people developed antibodies for the novel coronavirus.

Commissioner for Health and Family Welfare of the state Katamaneni Bhaskar said 22.5% of the population in urban areas and 18.2% in rural areas had acquired immunity for the disease. Of the total surveyed, 19.9% women and 19.5% men had developed antibodies, he told a press conference on Thursday.

Among the high-risk population ( people over 40 years of age and those with comorbidities), 20.3% had acquired immunity. The survey also revealed that 90% to 100% of the total positive cases were asymptomatic.

In Chittoor district, 100% of those surveyed were asymptomatic, in Anantapuramu 99.5%, in Krishna 99.4%, in Guntur and Srikakulam 98.5% each and in Kurnool 98.3%. In Prakasam, where the number cases have shot up, 90.9% of the positive cases to be asymptomatic.

"Sero surveillance provides estimates of antibody levels against infectious diseases and is considered a gold standard for measuring population immunity. We have completed one round of surveillance in all districts in two phases," Bhaskar said.

SPS Nellore had the lowest levels of Sero prevalence at 8.2%, West Godavari 12.3%, Prakasam 17.6%. These three districts have been witnessing a steep rise in coronavirus cases over the past few days.

East Godavari, with the state's highest number of over 72,000 cases and one of the mostly highly infected districts in the country, had a Sero prevalence of 14.4%. The district has been adding cases in excess of 1,000 per day for the past few weeks.

Vizianagaram, which was the last district in the state to report a Covid-19 case, had the highest 30.6 per cent Sero prevalence, according to the survey report. Kurnool, once the major hotbed in the state, showed a prevalence of 28.1 per cent.

"We hope the spread of infection will now be lower in these districts where the population showed a higher growth of antibodies. The survey will help us understand the spread of infection and plan the management, including targeting of tests to yield better results," Bhaskar said.