Chennai: The first sero survey in Pune has found that 51.5 per cent of the 1644 respondents from five highly-affected wards have seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19 infection.
The survey had 1,664 respondents (all above 18 years) from the citys five wards whose population is 3.66 lakh.
A serological survey is done to detect the presence of specific antibodies, and is used to assess the prevalence of a disease in the population.
The survey was conducted by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in collaboration with Pune Municipal Corporation, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute at Faridabad, and Christian Medical College, Vellore.
According to Pune Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao, the survey was not comprehensive and two more sero surveys will be conducted with a larger sample size.
Dr Arunab Ghose, associate professor, IISER, said 52.8 per cent men and 50.1 per cent women were found to have seroprevalence of antibodies.
The survey found that people living in huts and tenements had higher sero-positivity than those residing in apartments and bungalows, he said.
He said blood samples were collected from 1,664 people who were either asymptomatic or symptomatic but undetected (not tested) from areas like Yerwada, Kasba Peth, Rasta Peth, Lohiya Nagar (Kasewadi) and Navipeth (Parvati) which are high-incidence wards of the Pune Municipal Corporation.
The survey also indicated a higher prevalence of sero-positivity in users of shared toilets (62.3 per cent) compared to users of independent toilets (45.3 per cent).
‘We found the presence of IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. This indicates past infection but does not necessarily suggest immunity from subsequent infection,’ he added.
Delhi details
The second round of serological survey, conducted in the first week of August across Delhi, has suggested that 28.35 per cent of the people tested have developed antibodies against the novel coronavirus, it is learnt.
During the survey, more than 15,000 samples were lifted across 11 districts in Delhi to assess the spread of the virus. The samples were processed in 18 labs authorised by the State government.