Seroprevalence of anti SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies among adults in Jammu district, India: A community-based study.

Background & objectives: Serology testing is essential for immunological surveillance in the population. This serosurvey was conducted to ascertain the cumulative population immunity against SARS-CoV-2 among adults in Jammu district and to understand the association of seropositivity with sociodemographic and clinical correlates. Methods: On September 30 and October 1, 2020, a household survey was done in 20 villages/wards chosen from 10 health blocks in district Jammu, India. Demographic, clinical and exposure information was collected from 2000 adults. Serum samples were screened for IgG antibodies using COVID Kavach MERILISA kit. Tests of association were used to identify risk factors associated with IgG positivity. Crude odds ratio with 95 per cent confidence intervals (CIs) was calculated during univariate analysis followed by logistic regression. Results: Overall adjusted seroprevalence for SARS-CoV-2 was 8.8 per cent (95% CI: 8.78-8.82); it varied from 4.1 per cent in Chauki choura to 16.7 per cent Pallanwalla across 10 blocks in the district. Seropositivity was observed to be comparatively higher in 41-50 and 61-70 yr age groups, among males and in rural areas. Fever, sore throat, cough, dyspnoea, myalgias, anosmia, ageusia, fatigue, seizures, history of exposure, medical consultation, hospitalization and missing work showed significant association with seropositivity on univariate analysis. On logistic regression, only sore throat, myalgia and missing work showed significant adjusted odds of IgG positivity. Extrapolation to adult population suggested that exposure to SARS-CoV-2 was 14.4 times higher than reported cases, translating into Infection fatality rate of 0.08 per cent. Interpretation & conclusions: Since a major part of population was immunologically naive, all efforts to contain COVID-19 need to be vigorously followed while these baseline results provide an important yardstick to monitor the trends of COVID-19 and guide locally appropriate control strategies in the region.

Effect of Women's and Partners' Education on Maternal Health-care Services Utilization in Five Empowered Action Group States of India: An analysis of 13,443 Women of Reproductive Age.

BACKGROUND: Suboptimal utilization of maternal health-care services is a perennial problem in Empowered Action Group (EAG) states. This study examines role of women's and partners' education on usage of antenatal, postnatal care (PNC), and skilled birth attendance in these states. METHODOLOGY: National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-2016) data for 13,443 women in reproductive age group of 15-49 years in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Odisha, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh (UP) were analyzed using logistic regression. RESULTS: Increasing level of education had a significant impact on utilization of antenatal services in all states, highest and lowest odds being observed with higher and primary level of partner's education, respectively. Skilled birth attendance universally showed rising trend with increasing women education, while it remained substantially low even at higher level of partner's education. For PNC, utilization increased with increasing level of maternal education. While significantly lower odds of PNC were seen with primary level of partner education in Rajasthan and UP, partner's secondary education showed positive and significant association in Bihar, Rajasthan, and UP. At higher level of partner education, positive and significant effects on PNC were observed only in Bihar, MP, and UP. CONCLUSIONS: Universal education is vital to attain sustainable development goals at the grassroot level, which is happening relatively slowly in the EAG states.