Mumbai SeroSurvey: Facts and interpretations

Understanding the spread of infection and factors that contribute to it is critical to tackling pandemics such as COVID-19. Such studies provide information that is useful for clinicians, epidemiologists and policymakers alike to tweak interventions to fight the crisis better.

NITI-Aayog, BMC, TIFR and partner organisations organised a serosurvey in Mumbai in early July. This survey measured antibodies against SARS-CoV2 in both general population and health care workers in Matunga (FN), Chembur (MW) and Dahisar (RN). The unique aspect of this study was to capture population density-driven prevalence and possible socio-economic factors that were correlated with infection in slums and non-slums.

The key highlight of the survey design was its large sample size and random unbiased selection of volunteers. We surprisingly found that while the prevalence in the slums was high, it was lower in the non-slums. Another key observation is the implied low infection fatality rate inferred from the prevalence estimates. In this talk, we will discuss the methodology, implementation, results and some interpretations of our findings.

Listen VIA https://youtu.be/290PxMIskKQ