CSIR-CDRI (Central Drug Research Institute), Lucknow has begun serological testing for antibodies against Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) which involves testing of people for finding antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. The serological testing will be carried out from 9th-11th September.
Dr Susanta Kar and Dr Amit Lahiri, the nodal scientists from CSIR-CDRI, said that the diagnostic tests performed in India have been largely limited to people showing symptoms and those who have come in close contact with these individuals. They noted that community testing has not been initiated yet and that according to available reports from various countries it can be perceived that there are many more asymptomatic cases who have not been tested, implying that the seriousness of the infection spreading is higher than expected. Thye also said that since we are yet not aware of the duration to which the antibodies of people who have been exposed to the disease stays in their system it is important to perform long-term pan-India surveillance using serology-based assays to estimate the burden of the infection as well as assess the titres of the antibodies by collecting samples at fixed intervals which could help in identifying people who can donate their plasma to the terminally ill COVID-19 patients.
The test is voluntary and free of cost and is open to all CSIR staff and students and will be carried out under strict protocols in the CDRI dispensary under the supervision of resident doctors Dr Shalini Gupta and Dr Vivek Bhosale. The presence or absence of anti-SARS-CoV2 antibody titers in CSIR staff and students will then be assessed using ELISA based assay at CSIR-IGIB, New Delhi. This project will align well with the CSIR’s Indigenous program “Phenome India – A long-term longitudinal observational cohort study of health outcomes.”
