Antibodies against Covid-19 infection have been found in 23.24 percent of samples in the latest sero-prevalence survey conducted by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, indicating that the city has not developed herd immunity, an official said on Wednesday.
The sero-survey conducted in Ahmedabad has found that 40 percent of recovered Covid-19 patients have no presence of antibodies against the coronavirus. Antibodies can guard patients against repeat infections and those vaccinated against first infections.
Acording to the latest CDC advisory, if a person who has had and recovered from Covid-19 may have low levels of virus in their bodies for up to three months after diagnosis. This means that if the person who has recovered from Covid-19 is retested within three months of initial infection, they may continue to have a positive test result, even though they are not spreading Covid-19.
CDC recommends that all people, whether or not they have had Covid-19, take steps to prevent getting and spreading Covid-19. Wash hands regularly, stay at least 6 feet away from others whenever possible, and wear masks.
If you travel, take steps to protect yourself & others from #COVID19:
• Wear a mask in public.
• Avoid close contact with others. Stay at least 6 feet from anyone not from your household.
• Wash your hands often or use hand sanitizer.https://t.co/PEjiUELNbK pic.twitter.com/OAaeKoAifh— CDC Travel Health (@CDCtravel) August 19, 2020
Bhavin Solanki, Medical Officer, AMC, said 23.24% of 10,000 samples showed the presence of antibodies, which was an increase of 5.6 percentage points over the sero-survey in July, which had found positivity of 17.68%.
A sero-survey involves testing of blood serum to check the prevalence of antibodies against infection.
Doctors from AMC MET Medical college & SVP Hospital share insights of the Seropositivity survey. Aggressive testing, Proactive identification & Quick isolation policy by AMC yield dividends#LifePositiveCoronaNegative@PMOIndia@CMOGuj@ibijalpatel@drrajivguptaias@Mukeshias pic.twitter.com/B9UvlnkUtW
— Amdavad Municipal Corporation (@AmdavadAMC) September 3, 2020
“The 5.6 percent increase in positivity shows that multidimensional steps taken by the AMC have yielded results in controlling the spread of the virus,” he said.
“23.24 percent positivity shows that we are far from developing any herd immunity, for which the positivity should be 70-80 percent,” he said.
