NIN, Telangana govt to conduct sero survey in state from Jan4

In addition, samples and data will also be collected from healthcare workers in all the districts, Avula Laxmaiah, Scientist G and Head, Public Health Nutrition Division, ICMR-NIN, who is leading the survey, said.

ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition and Telangana government will initiate a state-wide SARS COV-2 sero survey from January 4.

The survey will be conducted among general population and healthcare workers, in all the districts of Telangana and aims to assess the extent of community spread of the infection in the state, a press release from NIN said on Monday.

''Over 20 teams each with a scientist/doctor, technician and phlebotomist, 4 co-ordinators, one Lead Scientist from NIN will work in tandem with the state health department to complete the survey in about 3 weeks,'' Hemalatha R, Director, ICMR-NIN, said.

The sero-prevalence will be assessed by examining the SARS Cov-2, IgG antibodies (Immunoglobulin G) in the blood samples to be collected from the general population and Health Care Workers (HCW) across the districts. The state government is supporting this survey and the health and other administrative departments will collaborate with ICMR-NIN, it further said.

The house-to-house survey will cover 16,000 people in 330 villages in all the 33 districts in the state.

''In each of the 33 districts, 10 villages will be selected randomly and from each village 40 people above six years from both males and females will be covered. In addition, samples and data will also be collected from healthcare workers in all the districts,'' Avula Laxmaiah, Scientist G and Head, Public Health Nutrition Division, ICMR-NIN, who is leading the survey, said.