Doctors at Sion hospital are conducting a pilot study to detect the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, in the blood of 2,000 healthcare workers.
Doctors from the hospital’s microbiology department are carrying out the study using a dual testing kit approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research. The team has collected the samples of nearly 2,000 healthcare staff from Sion, Nair, KEM, Kasturba and SevenHills hospitals. They will be analysing the results of the tests.
Dr. Ramesh Bharmal, dean of Sion hospital, said the study is to understand the behaviour of the virus in healthcare settings. “The presence of antibodies will tell us about the exposure of staff to the virus and if the test can be used as a surveillance tool,” he said.
When a person is infected with the novel coronavirus, his body develops antibodies to fight it. The dual testing kit detects two types of antibodies: Immunoglobulin M (IgM) and Immunoglobulin G (IgG). Presence of IgM is considered a marker of an ongoing infection, while the presence of IgG indicates an old infection. A doctor said both antibodies are typically formed around two weeks after contracting the infection. “IgM remains in the body till a month or so, while IgG stays longer, for nearly three months,” said a doctor.
Antibodies found
During the study, IgM antibodies were found in the samples of two resident doctors from the gynaecology department of Sion hospital. Their throat swabs were collected for polymerase chain reaction tests and both of them were quarantined. Doctors said the rapid testing kits are being used just for the study.
