MP: Samples of 1,700 people taken for ICMR's COVID-19 survey

As part of its nationwide survey to estimate the prevalence of coronavirus infection in India, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has collected samples of 1,700 common people from four districts in Madhya Pradesh, who have not shown any symptoms of this disease. Scientists expressed hope that the results of this survey will provide accurate information about the spread of the epidemic among the population in these four districts- Indore, Dewas, Ujjain and Gwalior.

According to them, it will also help ascertain if there has been community transmission of the virus and whether collective immunity has developed in the people. This nation-wide exercise has been named sero-survey.

Under this survey, Jabalpur-based National Institute of Research in Tribal Health (NIRTH) has collected blood samples of people from the four districts in the state. Talking to PTI on Friday, Aparup Das, Director of NIRTH, said, "Under the nationwide sero-survey of ICMR, blood samples of 500 people in COVID-19 containment zones in Indore were taken randomly. These people did not show any common symptoms of COVID-19, like fever and cold." Under this survey, the blood serum of people is being anyalsed to monitor the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (which causes COVID-19).

"After examining the serum of blood, it will be important to know how the immune system has reacted if that person was infected with SARS-CoV-2 and whether antibodies have been developed against this virus in his blood or not. It will also provide information about herd immunity," he said. "These days, a large number of COVID-19 cases are coming up across the state, in which patients do not show common symptoms of this infection, while many other infected people have common symptoms," Das said.

The scientific community is trying to find out if this situation is due to the differences in people's individual immunity, he added. He said that under the ICMR's sero-survey, samples of 500 people in Indore and of 400 people each in Dewas, Ujjain and Gwalior districts have been taken.

Indore is among the most affected districts of coronavirus infection in the country, where 3,344 patients have been found so far, of whom 126 have died. All these samples have been sent to ICMR's Chennai- based institute for examination, Das said.

"We have selected high-transmission, medium- transmission and low-transmission districts of COVID-19 in the state under sero-survey. A comparative study of the survey results will show why SARS-CoV-2 spread in Indore rapidly and what was the reason behind the relatively low spread of the virus in other districts," he added. According to Das, the survey report will be shared with all the states of the country to help them decide the strategy against COVID-19.