The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has completed the second round of nationwide sero-survey to determine the exposure of the novel coronavirus among the population.
The final phase analysis of the survey is underway and the result, once declared, will offer a comparison with the results of the first survey conducted in May, said the council.
“The second round of countrywide sero-survey led by ICMR has been successfully completed. The final phase analysis of the survey is now underway and will offer a comparison with the results of the first survey,” the ICMR tweeted on September 20.
It also said that containment zones refer to a specific geographical area where positive cases of coronavirus are found are dynamic in nature and they do not fit into nationally representative sampling.
The findings of the first national sero-survey conducted by ICMR, published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research earlier in September, indicated that 0.73 percent of adults in India were exposed to SARS-CoV-2, amounting to 6.4 million infections in total by early May.
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The ICMR also said that the findings of the previous survey from the dynamic containment zones in 10 cities to assess the extent of COVID-19 transmission have been communicated to the respective states for further action.
This comment comes following media reports of health researchers, apparently under instructions from senior ICMR officials, alleging that they were not allowed to include data from containment zones in 10 hotspot cities in the first national sero-survey study paper published recently.
The 'sero-survey' involves testing of blood serum of people to check for the prevalence of antibodies against coronavirus infection. The IgG antibodies against an infection takes around 15 days to develop in the body.
(With inputs from PTI)
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