Serosurvey to monitor COVID-19 prevalence at district level

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has initiated a population-based serosurvey to monitor the trend in the prevalence of the infection at the district level.

The two government research bodies will collaborate with key stakeholders for the survey at 10 health facilities, of which 6 are public and 4 are private.

The serosurvey involves testing of blood serum of a group of individuals to determine the presence of antibodies against that infection.

It is also planning to establish systematic surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 infection in all districts of the country.

The surveillance will be in addition to the routine testing as per current testing guidelines. The survey will include 200 samples per week and 800 samples per month.

A minimum of 100 samples per week and 400 per month of healthcare workers from selected districts would be tested.

Among the high-risk population, outpatient attendees (non-ILI patients) and pregnant women among the low-risk group, and health care workers will be tested.

Data on demographic characteristics will be collected on a specifically designed standard data collection form.

The collected data will be analyzed locally for action using standard indicator formats. Indicators will be made for person, place, time, and trend analysis.