3rd serosurvey to cover health workers: ICMR

Pune: A third Covid-19 serosurvey by the Indian Council of Medical Research is set to assess the infection’s spread among health workers in India, reports Nisha Nambiar.

The survey, which began on Thursday, is expected to conclude by January-end. It will test 29,000 people and health workers across 70 districts — same locations as the second survey. Head of epidemiology and communicable diseases at ICMR, Dr Samiran Panda, said results from the survey should be out before priority vaccination begins for health workers.

The second serosurvey had studied infection trends in kids above 10. Covid’s trends among medical staff could help authorities finalise target areas for priority vaccination. Dr Manoj Murhekar, director of National Institute of Epidemiology, which is executing the survey, said the aim is to understand prevalence of infection and immunity levels in a large representative population.

"The results of this third survey will be available before vaccine rollouts next year," Dr Murhekar added.

Researchers who had carried out the second serosurvey had shown that over 7% of India’s adult population may have been exposed to the coronavirus before the end of August. The study was carried out from August 17 to September 22.