Highlights
- The first round of national sero-survey was conducted in April-May
- First sero-survey showed COVID-19 fatality rate of 0.5 to 0.6 per cent
- Second round of sero-survey has been completed in 68 out of 70 districts
New Delhi: The result of the second national sero survey will be announced by the end of September, said Professor (Dr.) Balram Bhargava, DG of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Tuesday (September 15). “Sero Survey tells us about the prevalence or trend of the pandemic in a particular area. One sero survey alone will not be enough. If you will look at the Geneva sero-survey, they did it for five weeks and it was published in Lancet, they did not show many changes. The National Sero Survey which was conducted in April-May is being repeated now after three months,” Dr. Bhargava said during a press conference.
We have completed the same for 68 out of 70 districts, analysis is being done. We should have the results of the second Sero survey this month. Then we can compare the two, he added.
ICMR DG said that through sero survey, we can get an estimate of the infection fatality rate.
If you look at the results of National Sero Survey which was conducted in April-May, the infection fatality rate was 0.5 to 0.6 per cent, much lower than Europe and America which have an infection fatality rate ranging between 1.2 to 1.8, he added.
The findings of the first national population-based sero-survey indicated that 0.73 per cent of adults in India were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection, amounting to 6.4 million infections in total by the early May 2020, revealed the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) sero-survey on September 10.
Based on the overall adjusted sero-prevalence of 0.73 per cent and reported COVID-19 cases, it was estimated that for every RT-PCR confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, there were 82-130 infections in India, noted the survey.
The sero-prevalence ranged between 0.62 and 1.03 per cent across the four strata of districts.
Meanwhile, India’s COVID-19 case tally crossed the 49-lakh mark today. A total of 49,30,237 cases have been reported in the country including 9,90,061 active cases, 38,59,400 cured/discharged/migrated and 80,776 deaths.
Also Read: Three COVID-19 Vaccines At Clinical Trial Stage In India: Indian Council of Medical Research
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NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.
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