First results of the seroprevalence study reveal the percentage of contagion of COVID-19 in different cities of Colombia

In September, the National Institute of Health (INS) began the study of seroprevalence of covid-19 in several territories of the country, but it was Leticia the city chosen by the entity to begin this work to understand the behavior of the virus, the percentage of the population that the virus reached, and how much immunity was developed.

This Thursday, November 26, the director of the INS, Martha Ospina, delivered the first preliminary results of the study and revealed that in the capital of the Amazon, six out of 10 of its inhabitants, that is, 59%, already had covid-19.

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“What characterizes these studies is that they are carried out in people selected randomly through specific sampling, without differentiating whether they had already had the infection or had not had signs of it”explained Martha Ospina.

In Barranquilla, the study found that 55% of its inhabitants were already affected by the virus and in Medellín almost a third, 27%.

“These results indicate that we are getting closer to a herd immunity, which on the one hand facilitates decision making as it is objective information, but on the other hand implies that you cannot lower your guard with the measures. In Barranquilla, for example, one out of every two inhabitants is still susceptible to infection, “said infectologist Carlos Álvarez, National Coordinator of COVID-19 Studies for the World Health Organization (WHO).

In Bogotá, the study is also advancing to know the behavior of covid-19

Bogotá is the fifth city nationwide to participate in the Seroprevalence Study ‘Country Project’, an investigation that aims to obtain information on the percentage of people in Colombia who were infected with covid-19.

For 10 days and complying with the strictest biosafety protocols, 120 professionals, technicians from the integrated health services subnets and researchers from the INS, will survey and carry out blood tests to 4,500 inhabitants in 360 segments, with approximately 292 neighborhoods that make up the necessary sample.

The households have already been previously selected and the samples will be taken at random. In case of finding people with respiratory symptoms, health professionals will take a sample to detect the coronavirus.

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“The study will tell us how the virus has spread in Bogotá (who has affected, who has been infected more and who less…). With this information, we can plan different controls for the pandemic, including how we could apply (where, to whom …) the vaccine when it arrives. That is its importance: that it allows us to determine measures to control the pandemic, their understanding and also plan vaccination “said Mayor Claudia López on November 15.

From that date, The teams from the National Institute of Health and the Ministry of Health have reached the selected neighborhoods, in which information and awareness-raising work with social and community leaders was previously carried out, members of the Local Action Boards, administrators of buildings and residential complexes and members of homes to facilitate the work of the health teams involved.