Jaipur: The population of 76.2% contains antibodies against Covid, the second highest in the country after Madhya Pradesh, where 79% of people have it, said the findings of the 4th National Sero Prevalence survey conducted by the Medical Research Board India (ICMR).
“The results of the ICMR survey showed how widespread and aggressive the second wave of Covid was in the state.
Regardless of its aggressive nature, Covid Country Management discusses it effectively,” said Siddharth Mahajan, Secretary of Health, to TII.
ICMR has taken 1,226 blood samples from various parts of the state and out of them, 934 found sero-positive.
Mahajan said the higher the positivity of Sero, the fewer the chance of the third wave to appear, but people need to be careful and continue to follow the appropriate behavior of Covid.
In countries such as Maharashtra, Assam and Kerala, Sero’s positivity found in surveys are 58%, 50.3% and 44.4% respectively.
Kerala has the lowest sero positivity in the survey.
Bihar stood in third place with 75.9%, followed by Gujarat (75.3%), Chhattisgarh (74.6%), Uttarakhand (73.1%) and Uttar Pradesh (71%).
Previously, Sawai Man Singh Medical College had claimed that the second wave was aggressive and dominated by the Delta variant.
Now, the high sero positivity shown in the ICMR survey shows that the wave is aggressive and has affected almost three quarters of the population in the state.
Now, the center has suggested a state to conduct a state-specific sero survey in consultation with ICMR to produce district level data about the prevalence of Sero because the findings will guide the formulation of local public health responses to Covid management.
It was stated in a letter by the Secretary of the Union Health to the state government that such studies followed the standard protocol, and these findings could then be used quickly by their respective countries to guide the objective, transparent and evidence-based public health response.