Mumbai, a city in Maharashtra (India) has been the center of the epidemic since the outbreak of COVID-19. The prevailing pandemic has led to the spread of COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, both symptomatically and asymptomatically. One of the ways to understand the dynamics of transmission of disease is through community based serological studies to test for infection. It is important as depending on the level of prevalence of infection, appropriate public health interventions can be planned and implemented for prevention and control of the disease.
A COVID-19 seroprevalence survey study was recently conducted in a joint effort by the National Institution for Transforming India, (NITI-Aayog), the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai; along with other partners, Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Mumbai; Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad; and NGOs.
The results of this study are sending shock waves across the world! To get up close and personal insights into the seroprevalence study, we at CovidGyan (Meena Kharatmal & Uma Ramakrishnan) are in conversation with Ullas Kolthur and Sandeep Juneja, both scientists at the TIFR, who lead the study.