PremiumIndia would begin the next sero survey in June to determine the prevalence of coronavirus antibodies in the community, the Centre said on Friday. According to the government's think-tank Niti Aayog, preparations for national sero survey are over and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)would begin work for the next sero survey this month.
However, Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog said alone national sero survey would not help, and suggested states to roll out their own sero surveys.
"Preparation for national sero survey done. ICMR will begin work for next sero survey this month. But if we want to protect our geographies we won't have to depend on national sero survey alone, we'll have to encourage states for serosurveys too," Dr VK Paul said.
It would be the fourth sero survey conducted by the ICMR in the country. The sero survey would begin in 70 districts across the country, and would include children aged 6 years and above.
Apart from the general population, the ICMR officials would collect the blood samples of health care workers in district hospitals of 70 districts in 21 states.
The 21 states where the samples would be collected for the sero survey include Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.
In a sero survey, blood samples are tested for the presence of IgG (Immunoglobulin G) antibodies that determine a past infection due to the coronavirus. Sero surveys are also important to determine whether the disease has entered the community transmission stage or not.
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