Sunday, May 31, 2020

ICMR asks states to conduct sero-surveys


ICMR asks states to conduct sero-surveys

Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:31.05.2020

Looking to devise public health strategies to manage Covid-19 cases as the lockdown eases, the Indian Council of Medical (ICMR) has asked states to conduct sero-surveys — blood-based diagnostic tests — to measure the coronavirus exposure in varied sections of the population to track any wider spread of the disease for prevention and cure.

ICMR has said these tests could possibly be carried out in key populations that include vendors and owners as well as staff working in grocery shops, including those that sell milk and bread, pharmacists, restaurant staff, employees of banks, posts, couriers and telecom offices and air travel staff. Also those staying in slums, old-age homes, orphanages, homeless shelters, hostels, prisons, drivers, bus conductors, migrant workers, journalists, cops and health care workers could be tested.

Drawing a wide arc for the sero-survey ICMR has said individuals in containment zones and patients with HIV, tuberculosis, Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder, those on dialysis and others will also be covered.

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