LUCKNOW: King George's Medical University (KGMU) has started conducting
antibody tests
in communities to check if
herd immunity
is getting developed against
coronavirus.
Prof Tulika Chandra, head of transfusion medicine, who is also heading the research, said: "Tests are being done on health workers and voluntary blood donors who do not have Covid-19 symptoms or have never suffered from the disease."
"If antibodies are found in most subjects, it would reflect herd immunity in that community. The target is to conduct 5,000 tests in three months. The first report based on the data will be released after completion of 1,000 tests," she said.
The drive started on Thursday with the staff of the department.
Antibodies are developed by the immune system to fight against a virus. Presence of antibodies in blood shows the person has been infected earlier and developed immunity against it.
If antibodies are found in a substantial number of people in a community, it is termed as herd immunity, which has the potential to stop further spread of the virus.
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