ABSTRACT
Background: With reference to the National vaccination drive against COVID-19 disease (rolled out on January 16, 2021 by Government of India), this study was undertaken to analyze the patterns of antibody response among fully vaccinated adult individuals, to find the spectrum of adverse events following immunizations and knowledge component of the participants regarding the COVID-19 vaccines as well as its side effects. Materials and Methods: A total of 500 vaccinated individuals (with two doses of Government approved Covishield vaccine) were studied over a period of 9 weeks following the second dose of their vaccine. They were tested for the development of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, using an immunoglobulin G ELISA kit on three occasions, and the seroconversion pattern was analyzed. Results: A postvaccination seroconversion rate of 63.8% (at 2-3 weeks), 83.2% (at 4-5 weeks), and 93.2% (overall seroconversion rate at 8-9 weeks) was found. While 77.4% participants (at 4 weeks) and 65.9% participants (at 8 weeks) showed rise in optical density (OD) values, 7.4% showed a declining in OD values (at 8 weeks) and 6.8% remained seronegative throughout the study period. Sixty-two percent had experienced at least one form of adverse effect postvaccination, which were mostly mild in nature not requiring hospitalization. Conclusion: This study found that the timeline for seroconversion postvaccination by COVISHIELD varies between individuals, with few showing decline in the OD values as well and that majority of the adverse reactions observed in this population were only mild and manageable not requiring hospitalization.
ABSTRACT
Community involvement is of utmost importance in the management of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic from compliance with lockdown, to the steps taken during easing restrictions, to community support through volunteering. Government of India used 'Test, Track, and Treat' strategy to control the outbreak, which mainly focuses on strict legislative actions and capacity building. The strategies are predominately top-down, centralized, and government owned, where community participation and involvement were grossly missing. While visiting different high burden states of Maharashtra as members of central rapid response team, the researchers observed excellent community involvement models in some resource-poor settings, which were quite successful in controlling and managing pandemic at local level, and worth replicating in other settings. In this article, some of such evidences have been highlighted. This study also emphasized how community involvement could be more effectively used as a strategy to fight pandemic. © 2021 Medical Journal of Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth ;Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow
ABSTRACT
Background:COVID-19 pandemic has caused immense loss of lives, enormous devastation and has affected lives global- ly. Timely diagnosis is necessary to contain its spread. While it is important to test symptomatic individuals and high -risk contacts through reliable and confirmatory test (NAAT) to find out the positive cases of COVID -19, it is also vital to check their immunity status through serological tests to find out the varied immunological response in the affected popula- tion. Methods:All NAAT confirmed COVID-19 patients were included in the study. With a repeat respiratory sample for NAAT, simultaneous serum sample was taken for detection of IgM and IgG antibodies. Data was compiled and analyzed statis- tically. Results:During the first repeat NAAT, 71.43% had mounted an antibody response, whereas, 28.57% had no response. Irrespective of the antibody status, 68.57% tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus in NAAT. Though the number dwindled on second repeat NAAT, it raised important questions regarding humoral response and its clinical and diagnostic applicability. [Formula presented] Conclusions:Not all COVID-19 patients mount a humoral re- sponse due to yet unexplained factors. Also, exclusive depend- ence on serology assays will miss diagnosis in these patients. More research is needed for description and applicability of humoral response in COVID-19 patients.
ABSTRACT
Background: Serological diagnosis has become an important tool to understand the extent of COVID-19 in the community. Thus, this study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and to analyze various characteristics (risk factors) associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection among serving personnel in a large geographical area straddling four North Indian states. Materials and Methods: This multicentric, cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among serving personnel in eight stations spread over Punjab, UP, Haryana, and Rajasthan in October-November 2020. A total of 3680 (410 x 8 = 3280 general participants and 50 x 8 = 400 purposive samples) individuals were enrolled and tested using IgG ELISA kit (in four stations) and RAPID CARD-based tests (in the rest four stations). Results: While the overall seroprevalence was found to be 16.57% (610/3680 participants being positive), the seropositivity was found to be 12.01% (10.92%-13.70%) and 54% (52.35%-56.45%) among the study participant's and purposive sampling groups, respectively. While statistically significant association was found between seronegativity and attending any lecture on COVID-19 before the survey (P < 0.001) or following recommended protocols for the prevention of COVID-19 (P < 0.001), a similar association was found between seropositivity and occupation with high exposure to serving personnel or civilians (P < 0.001), having close contact (less than one meter) with COVID-19 confirmed cases in the past (P < 0.001) and being tested positive for COVID-19 in the past (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Our study found a moderate overall seroprevalence with low seroprevalence in few stations and high in the rest.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused immense loss of lives, enormous devastation, and has affected lives globally. Timely diagnosis is necessary to contain its spread. While it is important to test symptomatic individuals and high-risk contacts through reliable and confirmatory test (nucleic acid amplification test [NAAT]) to find out the positive cases of COVID-19, it is also vital to check their immunity status through the serological tests to find out the varied immunological response in the affected population. Materials and Methods: All NAAT confirmed COVID-19 patients were included in the study. With a repeat respiratory sample for NAAT, simultaneous serum sample was taken for the detection of IgM and IgG antibodies. Data were compiled and analyzed statistically. Results: During the first repeat NAAT, 71.43% had mounted an antibody response, whereas 28.57% had no response. Irrespective of the antibody status, 68.57% tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus in NAAT. Although the number dwindled on second repeat NAAT, it raised important questions regarding humoral response and its clinical and diagnostic applicability. Conclusion: Not all, COVID-19 patients mount a humoral response due to yet unexplained factors. Furthermore, exclusive dependence on serology assays will miss the diagnosis in these patients. More research is needed for description and applicability of humoral response in COVID-19 patients.