Fourth round of Covid Sero commences in AP, watch includes ministers and legislators

NELLORE: Active politicians, including ministers, legislators, public figures and senior officials, are being screened in the fourth round of Sero prevalence study in Andhra Pradesh. The study, currently under progress in Nellore district, is to estimate the spread of Covid-19 infection and plan its management.

Sero studies estimate antibody levels against infectious diseases in tested persons. They are considered a gold standard for measuring immunity within the population.

Around 4,500 samples are being collected in each district of Andhra Pradesh from various categories of people. They include people living in rural and urban areas, containment and non-containment zones, inter-state and inter-district individuals, doctors and paramedics working in Covid hospitals, apart from persons cured from Coronavirus and their family members.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Nellore district collector K. V. N. Chakradhar Babu underlined that samples are also being collected from villages with zero cases to check immunity levels among their inhabitants. He pointed out that percentage of people with good immunity levels should double every month for development of the anticipated herd immunity among people for natural containment of Covid-19.

According to the collector, two rounds of Sero surveillance studies have already been conducted by ICMR in the past.

The state government itself has already carried out one Sero survey and is currently undertaking the second round.

Samples collected will be tested by the CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) Diagnostic testing method. This will help health care providers screen and monitor specific diseases and devise clinical measures for patient care, Chakradhar Babu added.