Coronavirus update: ICMR serosurvey- India likely had 6.4 million infections in May

New Delhi: India potentially had 6.4 million infections in may month, say the results of the first sero-survey conducted by scientists of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). For every confirmed case of COVID-19 in that montj there were around 82-130 positive infections that were not detected.

The paper that was published online in the Indian Journal of Medical Research has officially confirmed 4.5 million cases and 76,000 deaths.

However, In a press conference on June 12, ICMR Director General, Balram Bhargava had said, ‘0.73% of the population surveyed in 83 districts were likely infected by the virus, but did not specify what the all-India prevalence was, nor the number of likely infected’.

They surveyed and tested 28,000 adults from 21 states spanning 70 districts from May 11-June 4. After testing the presence of antibodies that are produced in response to the virus were found. Among those 290 tested positive for antibodies when tested with Covid Kavach Elisa Kit developed by the ICMR-National Institute of Virology.

The scientists used another ELISA kit, called Euroimmun ELISA to recheck the 290 and found only 157 positive basis.

The overall seroprevalence in India was low, with less than 1% of the adult population exposed to SARS-CoV-2 by mid-May. The low prevalence observed in most districts indicates that India is in early phase of the epidemic and the majority of the Indian population is still susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The survey also showed that the infections, between May and June, had already spread to rural India. Among 157 who tested positive, 109 were from villages and 48 were from urban localities,the infection had spread quite substantially beyond.