Finally, we are indebted to all the participants whose willingness and support has generated the much-desired data for the study.. This might be pointing towards the fact that the IgG Antibodies may not be long lasting. Conclusion As on August 2020, the seropositivity of 23.65% in HCWs indicate high level of disease transmission and higher risk of infection among HCWs in Ahmedabad. The seropositivity is significantly higher among female HCWs. Zone wise seropositivity, closely correlate with the reported cases from the respective zone. Their assessment also shows the possibility of reducing IgG seropositivity, which necessitates further in-depth medical study to generate higher medical evidences. strong class=”kwd-title” Keywords: IgG antibodies, Covid-19, Health care workers, Sero-surveillance, Immunity, SARS-COV2 1.?Intro Covid19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV2, spread across the world during 2020.1 In view of the asymptomatic infection of Covid19, we cannot rely on the data of identified instances as those who exhibit symptoms are more likely to get tested than asymptomatic individuals.2 Sero-surveillance uncover the asymptomatic, subclinical illness and helps in understanding the disease transmission dynamics in a better way for arranging an appropriate general public health response.3 Multiple sero-surveillance studies conducted during the pandemic have focused on antibodies against SARS-CoV2 in the general population.4 , 5 HCWs are exposed to suspected/confirmed instances and their contacts as part of their job-profile. This occupational exposure put them at a higher risk of illness.6 Frontline HCWs working in private hospitals experienced a significantly higher seroprevalence than HCW in other settings.7 None the less, HCWs working in the field, both from general public sector and private sector, are still at higher risk of infection. These HCWs could be a source of illness as they can transmit the infection.8 Thus, seroprevalence among field level HCWs is a crucial indicator providing better scientific insight into disease situation. Ahmedabad city with approximately 7 million people was one of the earliest cities to witness the high number of instances during the initial months of the pandemic in India. We carried out Amikacin disulfate a human population based sero-surveillance during the second half of August20. With this Amikacin disulfate sero-surveillance, apart from the general human population, HCWs were also included as an additional category along with instances & contacts of instances. This article focuses and describes only the HCWs component of the sero-surveillance. Keeping estimation of seroprevalence among HCWs as our main objective, we also checked the correlation of seropositivity with numerous demographic and additional factors influencing Amikacin disulfate their immunity. 2.?Materials and methods Indian Council of Medical Study (ICMR) had issued directives for conducting IgG Antibody based ELISA test for sero-surveys to monitor the pandemic, understand its progression and to take appropriate corrective general public health actions. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), from your state of Gujarat, INDIA, planned and carried out a sero-survey using human population centered stratified sampling during second half of August 2020. Result of the earlier sero-survey in general human population of Ahmedabad was used for the purpose of calculating the sample size for the present study. Ward/Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) smart required minimum sample size for the general human population category was identified based on human population proportion with 95% confidence level with 1% margin of error. Along with the general human population category, HCWs were also enrolled separately as an additional category along with instances and contact of instances. The sample size for the HCWs category was determined as atleast 10% of general human population sample target. This sample size was determined for each ward/UPHC, and thus, the Amikacin disulfate sample size for HCWs was also based on human population proportion. Covid-Kavach (Anti-SARS CoV2 IgG Antibody Detection capture ELISA) packages developed and manufactured by Zydus Diagnostics & validated by National Institute of Virology, Pune, India were used for the purpose of Amikacin disulfate this study. ICMR has permitted its use for sero-surveillance of SARS-CoV2 as its results are quite reliable with level of sensitivity of 92.37% and specificity of 97.9% as per the validation reports.9 The manufacturer reported no cross-reactivity with additional viruses in the serum from real-time RTPCR confirmed patients of various other infections. Screening procedures were adopted as per the manufacturer’s instructions. You will find 75 UPHCs within 48 wards, across 7 zones in Ahmedabad. There are various categories of health workers published at these UPHCs. You will find other health care workers from your field part Pten of UPHCs, who are working at private dispensaries, private hospitals, other health care setup etc. All such HCWs were eligible to get enrolled in the study in the HCW category. All UPHCs tried to enroll all such.
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