BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh has the highest Covid-19 seroprevalence in the country-wide 4th seroprevalence survey conducted by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Madhya Pradesh was found to have 79% seroprevalence in the survey. Overall, 67.6% Indians above the age of 6 have seroprevalence according to the survey.
Serological surveys reveal how many people have antibodies against the Coronavirus infection i.e. ratio of people already exposed to the virus. The survey was conducted between June and July, 2021.
The data of the survey released last week shows that after Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar, Gujarat with 75.3% seroprevalence, Chhattisgarh with 74.6% , Uttar Pradesh with 71% and Andhra Pradesh with 70.2% have seroprevalence beyond 70%. Madhya Pradesh is followed by Rajasthan, which has a seroprevalence of 76.2% and Bihar 75.9%. Kerala, which is reporting the highest Coronavirus cases now-adays is at the bottom with 44.4% seroprevalence.
Maharashtra may be having the highest number of Covid-19 patients right from the beginning, but seroprevalence among its people is comparatively low at 58%.
The fourth survey shows a steep hike in the presence of antibodies in the population as compared to the third one which was conducted between December and January and showed only 21.5% of the population had seroprevalence.
Experts, while stating that greater seroprevalence is a “good omen” for the future as more people are equipped with the antibodies to fight the deadly virus, however, warned that precautions are still necessary and one can't afford to get complacent.
Coordinator of the Covid combat team in MP, Dr Lokendra Dave, while talking to TOI said, “If there is greater seroprevalence among people of MP, it’s good. But, reliability of a survey like this depends on multiple factors like the sample size or the number of districts covered in the survey and areas from which samples are collected. Despite the fact that it has the highest seroprevalence in the country and makes the state less vulnerable to the third wave, we can’t get complacent and stop taking precautions needed to ward off the third wave.”
While releasing the data, the Union health ministry said, “The national sero survey results don't reflect the heterogeneity of seroprevalence between districts and even between states.” It recommended that the state and Union territories should conduct surveys themselves to obtain districtlevel data on seroprevalence, which will be essential in framing public health response measures at a local level.
