ICMR’s fourth sero-survey flagged off in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: For the first time, children above six years are included in the sero prevalence study being conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research. It’s the fourth survey in the country, including three Karnataka districts of Bengaluru, Chitradurga and Kalaburagi.
The house-to-house survey began in Bengaluru’s west zone at Kamakshipalya on Monday. The exercise was completed in Kalaburagi district a week ago and will be done in Chitradurga shortly. The survey will test the presence of Covid antibodies in participants, to gauge the extent of Covid exposure. “The serosurvey will give us clarity on the extent of Covid exposure among children ahead of the third wave,” said a Technical Advisory Committee member.
BBMP officials said 400 people in Bengaluru are part of it. Participants, all volunteers, must sign consent forms and give blood samples. Across the country, 28,000 persons are part of it, with 400 persons in each of 70 districts chosen.
“In each district, 10 clusters are chosen. In each cluster, there are subgroups based on age. Each cluster will include 40 people, with 28 over 18 years, 8 persons between 10 years and 17 years and four persons between 6 years and 9 years,” said a field officer. The National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai will analyse the data. Full report: toi.in