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Time of India
2 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
TN has 97% Covid immunity for senior citizens, reveals serosurvey
Chennai: At least 97 per cent of the elderly in Tamil Nadu have immunity against Covid-19, a serosurvey conducted in April 2025 by the directorate of public health revealed. The fifth edition of the survey targeted elderly persons in districts including Chennai, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Trichy, Dharmapuri, and Kanyakumari. Preliminary analysis of 1,214 samples from this group showed protective immunity of 97%, Health Minister Ma Subramaniam said here on Wednesday. The state public health laboratory tested more than 25,000 samples per phase, selected through population proportionate sampling across the state, utilising techniques for uniform collection. "We saw a boost in immunity since 2020. The first phase in Oct 2020 showed 32% immunity, which rose to 29% in April 2021 and 70% in Aug 2021. The same year in Dec, immunity was 87%," he said. Officials at the directorate attributed the increase in immunity to a combination of factors, including effective vaccination implemented during the pandemic and natural infection, leading to high immunity. High seroprevalence means that a large percentage of people in the sample population have antibodies in their blood, Director of Public Health Dr T S Selvavinayagam said. This indicates they were exposed to the SARS CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, and carry proteins, antibodies produced by the immune system in response to an infection or vaccination. They are a sign that the body encountered the pathogen and mounted an immune response, often leading to some level of protection against future infections, he said. "We vaccinated more than 95% of the population with at least one dose of the vaccine. Besides this, natural infections due to the circulation of weakened mutations such as Omicron sub-lineages of the virus enhanced antibody development further. This could have contributed to hybrid immunity," he added. Officials said high seroprevalence correlates with a positive public health outcome. "We know the virus has been largely unable to cause severe illness. We don't see Covid-19 causing deaths in people who are infected," he added.
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Health
- New Indian Express
TN's Covid survey shows 97 per cent of elderly population has protective immunity
CHENNAI: A serosurvey for Covid-19 conducted by the Directorate of Public Health (DPH) and Preventive Medicine among elderly people in six districts of Tamil Nadu in the month of April has shown 97% of the surveyed population to have protective levels of immunity. The results showing high seroprevalence of SARS CoV-2 IgG antibodies, coming amid concerns of a surge in number of Covid-19 cases, showed that the infections by SARS CoV-2 virus could not cause severe illness, the health department said. It added that deaths due to Covid-19 are almost nil in TN. According to the DPH, a total of 3,643 blood samples were collected from persons as part of the elderly panel survey in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruchy, Dharmapuri and Kanniyakumari districts. 'Preliminary analysis of 1,214 samples tested for SARS-CoV antibodies (IgG) showed the protective levels of immunity to be 97%,' a DPH release said. The press release said that even after a gap of three years in conducting the present Phase V of the serosurvey, the prevalence of protective level of SARS CoV antibodies is very high and significant. Effective vaccination drives implemented by the state government might be responsible for the high level of protection against SARS CoV-2 virus, it said. 'In addition, natural infection and subclinical infection due to the weakened circulating Omicron sub lineage of SARS CoV-2 virus could have also enhanced the development of antibodies,' the release added. The state has not officially released data on Covid-19 cases after the recent surge across the country.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
TN has 97% Covid immunity for senior citizens, reveals serosurvey
Chennai: At least 97% of the elderly in Tamil Nadu have immunity against Covid-19, a serosurvey conducted in April 2025 by the directorate of public health revealed. The fifth edition of the survey targeted elderly persons in districts including Chennai, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Trichy, Dharmapuri, and Kanyakumari. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Preliminary analysis of 1,214 samples from this group showed protective immunity of 97%, Health Minister Ma Subramaniam said here on Wednesday. The state public health laboratory tested more than 25,000 samples per phase, selected through population proportionate sampling across the state, utilising techniques for uniform collection. "We saw a boost in immunity since 2020. The first phase in Oct 2020 showed 32% immunity, which rose to 29% in April 2021 and 70% in Aug 2021. The same year in Dec, immunity was 87%," he said. Officials at the directorate attributed the increase in immunity to a combination of factors, including effective vaccination implemented during the pandemic and natural infection, leading to high immunity. High seroprevalence means that a large percentage of people in the sample population have antibodies in their blood, Director of Public Health Dr T S Selvavinayagam said. This indicates they were exposed to the SARS CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, and carry proteins, antibodies produced by the immune system in response to an infection or vaccination. They are a sign that the body encountered the pathogen and mounted an immune response, often leading to some level of protection against future infections, he said."We vaccinated more than 95% of the population with at least one dose of the vaccine. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Besides this, natural infections due to the circulation of weakened mutations such as Omicron sub-lineages of the virus enhanced antibody development further. This could have contributed to hybrid immunity," he added. Officials said high seroprevalence correlates with a positive public health outcome. "We know the virus has been largely unable to cause severe illness. We don't see Covid-19 causing deaths in people who are infected," he added.
