LUCKNOW: Every second person in Uttar Pradesh had developed antibodies against the coronavirus during the second wave, suggest preliminary data of the Covid-19 Sero Prevalence Survey, undertaken in the first week of June.
The findings of the survey were tabled before chief minister Yogi Adityanath during the meeting of the Covid crack team here on Friday.
Official sources told TOI that about 55-60% of the people in the state had developed immunity against the coronavirus as per the survey.
This is less than the trend of about 78% people developing immunity indicated in the WHO-AIIMS, New Delhi survey a week ago.
Launched on June 4, the survey, conducted in all 75 districts of UP, was supervised by the microbiology department of King George’s Medical University.
It aimed at quantifying the proportion of people in the state’s population who have developed immunity against the pandemic virus.
When contacted, additional chief secretary, information, Navneet Sehgal said: “The initial findings of the sero survey were placed before the government, however, any kind of conclusions or policy changes will follow only after the detailed results are out.
This will take a week or so.” Sehgal also urged people not to depend on chance factors when it comes to protection from the pandemic virus and adhere strictly to the Covid-19 prevention norms especially at a time when the virus is mutating fast.
“Whether or not someone is having antibodies against coronavirus, the risk of contracting the infection remains there.
Prevention protocol is highly recommended even after one gets both the doses of the protective vaccine,” he said urging people to wear masks, follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour and avoid movement without reason.
A health department official said that the sero prevalence survey involved testing the blood serum of a group of individuals to determine the presence of antibodies against coronavirus infection.
“Samples were collected from rural and urban areas in three primary categories – slums, general population, people who tested positive for Covid-19.
An additional category of those with sero-positivity (or those who developed antibodies in the first wave),” said an officer engaged in the exercise.
Different teams led by a doctor and comprising an ANM (auxiliary nurse midwife) and an ASHA worker of that particular area and one technician collected the blood samples.
The CMOs of each district coordinated the transportation of the samples to KGMU Lucknow for assessment.
Those associated with the survey said that the data would reveal district-wise trends, male-female distribution besides throwing light on the category-wise sero prevalence.
Based on the outcome, the policy-makers will tweak the strategy to combat the anticipated third wave and draw localised prevention plans.
During the first wave of Covid-19 in September 2020, the health department carried out sero survey in 11 districts — Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Agra, Prayagraj, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Kaushambi, Baghpat, and Moradabad.
The result showed that 22.1% of people had developed antibodies.