Sero-survey starts today in Prayagraj & Kaushambi

Prayagraj: In a move to contain the spread of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) in the state, 90 medical teams will be roped in for a five-day a sero-survey in Prayagraj and Kaushambi district Friday onwards.
The health department has identified 45 spots each of the two districts for the survey. As part of the plan, the teams would collect swab and blood samples of 32 residents — 16 men and 16 women — from each of the spots.Apart from a rapid antigen and blood tests, the participants’ blood samples would also be tested for hepatitis B and C.
The health department teams will collect 1,440 samples each from Prayagraj and Kaushambi districts from September 4 to 8.
Additional director (health) Dr Sudhakar Pandey said, “As per the directives of the state government, we have chalked out a plan for the seroprevalence survey in Prayagraj and Kaushambi to assess the extent of spread of the Covid-19 and the immunity against it in the community.”
Pandey said that 90 medical teams have been constituted to conduct the survey. “Each of the teams would comprise a medical officer, auxiliary nurse midwife, accredited social health activist (ASHA), a lab technician and a lab assistant,” he added.
Pandey said while the teams would cover both rural and urban areas during the survey, but the number of rural areas exceeds that of urban ones.
Officials said the sero-survey uses serology tests to identify people who have developed antibodies against an infectious disease. The presence of antibodies in blood signifies an immune response to the infection. The antibody test results are especially important for detecting any previous infections in people who did not experience the usual symptoms.
The sero-survey will help in monitoring the trends of infection and the spread of the virus, they added.
The results will be useful in drafting a strategy to contain the spread of the disease.
The samples collected by the teams would be sent to King George’s Medical University in Lucknow for testing.
In August, the state government had announce a sero-survey in UP 11 districts — Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Gorakhpur, Agra, Baghpat, Moradabad, Ghaziabad, Lucknow and Meerut.