Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) has emerged as a pandemic and the infection due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has now spread to more than 200 countries. It has been observed that SARS-CoV-2 causes asymptomatic infection for which sero-surveillance is strongly recommended for active case finding, testing, and contact tracing. Also, surveillance of antibody based sero-positivity indicates the extent of spread of infection in the given population and forms the basis for strengthening public health mitigation measures. Household based studies can generate evidence on role of asymptomatic and mild infections in transmission.

To establish the community-based district level sero-surveillance and to monitor the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the general population a Nation-wide survey has been initiated throughout India by the ICMR. In the state of Telengana, 3 districts - Jangaon, Kamareddy and Nalgonda have been selected. In each district, 10 villages will be selected randomly, and from each village 40 adults (>18 years) men and women will be randomly covered for the study. The study will be carried out in 4 rounds in the same villages (repeat cross sectional study). The initial survey would serve as a baseline to determine the sero-prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the community, while the subsequent rounds would help to monitor the trends of infection in the community. Population based sero-epidemiological studies will help us to determine the burden of COVID 19 infection at the community level and to monitor the trends in transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study findings will be useful to guide in designing and implementing appropriate containment measures. The objectives of this sero-surveillance are to estimate and monitor the trend of seroprevalence for SARS-CoV-2 infection in the general population and high burden cities, determine the socio-demographic risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection, and delineate the geographical spread of the infection in the general population and hotspot cities.

For this purpose, the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in association with the state government has initiated the house to house survey in 30 villages across three districts. State health department/district authorities will be actively engaged to ensure smooth operationalisation of the ICMR-NIN surveillance.

 

 

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