New Delhi. Delhi is commencing its 6th Serological (Sero) survey today to access the extent of the spread of coronavirus infections in the Capital. The survey is intended to measure the rate of exposure to the Sars-Cov-2 virus starting from January till April 2021.
What is a Sero Survey?
Under a serosurvey, blood samples of random individuals are collected to check how many people have developed antibodies against the virus. The samples are tested using antibody testing kits wherein a positive result implies that a person has developed antibodies against the virus. In other words, it indicates a person was infected at some point by the virus but eventually developed immunity against it.
Seo Survey is conducted in order to identify the extent of Herd Immunity, wherein a large part of the population develops antibodies and becomes immune to the virus. Herd Immunity insinuates that the chain of transmission of the virus is broken and thus leads to a reduction in the spread of the disease.
Hence, a higher value of seroprevalence is considered to be favourable. It is also important that the result of the serological survey has to be about 50-60% to attain herd immunity.
Since the Covid-19 vaccination drive was opened up after the fifth survey, officials will inquire participants about their vaccination history.
The protocols followed for the 6th round of the serosurvey are supposed to be the same as the previous one, that is, just over 100 samples will be collected at random from each of the 272 municipal wards in the capital. The total sample size will be 28,000.
The 5th round of serological survey in Delhi was conducted from January 15th to 23rd wherein the studies found that out of 28,000 people sampled for the Covid-19 antibodies, 56.13% of them tested positive of the infection.
The survey questionnaire in the 6th round will fetch details on the history of vaccination and previous infection in individuals whose blood samples are collected for testing the presence of antibodies against the Sars-CoV-2 virus.
Currently, the national Capital has recorded 10,774 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, which saw the highest single-day spike in Delhi to date. Moreover, 48 new fatalities were recorded bringing the city’s death toll due to COVID19l to 11,283.