SHAJID KHAN: In a bid to to assess whether people have developed immunity to COVID19 or not, the first serological survey in Assam was launched by the minister of state for health, Pijush Hazarika on Sunday.
The serological survey involves testing of the blood serum of individuals to check for the prevalence of antibodies against an infection.
The survey, titled ‘Assessment of Anti- SARSCoV2 Seroprevalence in Habitants of Assam: A population-based cross-sectional study’, is an initiative of an NGO in partnership with a diagnostics solutions provider.
“The need of the hour today is a seroprevalence study that would identify the proportion of people carrying antibodies against this virus,” minister Hazarika said.
Hazarika lauded the efforts of Padmapani Bora, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer from Assam.
Bora has been instrumental in initiating the survey.
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has advised states to conduct sero survey to measure COVID19 exposure among people using IgG Elisa Test (antibody test).
It can reveal insights into the immunity against COVID19 by detecting the presence of specific antibodies against COVID19.
National Health Mission, Assam has directed all deputy commissioners of the districts in the state to support the study.Nenow
