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NEW DELHI: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) plans to launch a new pan India serological survey as a follow-up to the one conducted in April across 21 states and final result of which are yet to come.
“These studies are subject to peer-review, and currently, ICMR’s pilot survey to know the spread of infection within the community that was done around mid-April is being peer-reviewed and that process is going on. Once that is done, it will be put out in public domain soon,” said Rajesh Bhushan, Officer on Special Duty in health ministry.
Bhushan said ICMR is planning a follow-up sero survey which will study Covid-19 samples from pan India.
“There is another sero-prevalence study being planned by ICMR across India as a follow-up to its mid-April study. Besides, the data of at least 22,000 samples that were collected as part of the Delhi sero-prevalence survey between June 27 and July 5 across 11 districts by the state government and National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is being analysed in 15-odd laboratories of both Delhi and central governments,” Bhushan said.
ICMR said sero-prevalence survey – similar to one conducted in Delhi – will also be conducted in different states by respective state governments.
These surveys are conducted by detecting Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies. While, the IgG antibodies start appearing after two weeks of the onset of the viral infection and last for several months even after a Covid-19 patient has recovered, the detection of presence of these antibodies enables estimation of the incidence of the infection, experts say.
Findings of these surveys will not only help the government and ICMR assess the extent of the spread of Covid-19 in India or in specific areas, but also evaluate the evolving trend of the infection which may be crucial in research as well as framing future policy interventions.
ICMR said it is working towards increasing the outreach of testing and make Covid-19 testing available even at a district level.
“We are focusing on the test, track, and treat approach for which we have to ensure that Covid-19 testing is accessible even at the grassroots level for early diagnosis. If we manage to detect the disease in its early stages, then the burden on our health infrastructure, especially hospitals, will be greatly reduced,” said ICMR Scientist Dr Nivedita Gupta.
ICMR has made the testing process smoother by waiving off the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) certificate for a private laboratory while applying for approval to conduct Covid-19 tests.
“We are allowing even those laboratories that have applied for NABL certification to seek ICMR validation for Covid-19 testing. However, these laboratories will be given a month’s time for obtaining the certificate and to submit it to ICMR,” said Dr Gupta.
“These studies are subject to peer-review, and currently, ICMR’s pilot survey to know the spread of infection within the community that was done around mid-April is being peer-reviewed and that process is going on. Once that is done, it will be put out in public domain soon,” said Rajesh Bhushan, Officer on Special Duty in health ministry.
Bhushan said ICMR is planning a follow-up sero survey which will study Covid-19 samples from pan India.
“There is another sero-prevalence study being planned by ICMR across India as a follow-up to its mid-April study. Besides, the data of at least 22,000 samples that were collected as part of the Delhi sero-prevalence survey between June 27 and July 5 across 11 districts by the state government and National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is being analysed in 15-odd laboratories of both Delhi and central governments,” Bhushan said.
ICMR said sero-prevalence survey – similar to one conducted in Delhi – will also be conducted in different states by respective state governments.
These surveys are conducted by detecting Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies. While, the IgG antibodies start appearing after two weeks of the onset of the viral infection and last for several months even after a Covid-19 patient has recovered, the detection of presence of these antibodies enables estimation of the incidence of the infection, experts say.
Findings of these surveys will not only help the government and ICMR assess the extent of the spread of Covid-19 in India or in specific areas, but also evaluate the evolving trend of the infection which may be crucial in research as well as framing future policy interventions.
ICMR said it is working towards increasing the outreach of testing and make Covid-19 testing available even at a district level.
“We are focusing on the test, track, and treat approach for which we have to ensure that Covid-19 testing is accessible even at the grassroots level for early diagnosis. If we manage to detect the disease in its early stages, then the burden on our health infrastructure, especially hospitals, will be greatly reduced,” said ICMR Scientist Dr Nivedita Gupta.
ICMR has made the testing process smoother by waiving off the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) certificate for a private laboratory while applying for approval to conduct Covid-19 tests.
“We are allowing even those laboratories that have applied for NABL certification to seek ICMR validation for Covid-19 testing. However, these laboratories will be given a month’s time for obtaining the certificate and to submit it to ICMR,” said Dr Gupta.
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