As part of measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in our country, serological tests will be conducted among the population.
As serological testing is an important part of the pandemic strategy, the Azerbaijani government is taking important steps in this direction.
The main purpose of the tests is to get an idea of the prevalence of COVID-19 among the population, to study the level of immunity in people with the disease. Through these tests, it is possible to determine the number of people who have contracted the disease and gained immunity in the last 3 months. The study of the level of immunity formed against the virus among the population through serological tests allows to choose the most appropriate approaches to combat the pandemic.
So far, various serious studies on serological tests have been conducted in other countries, in the cities with the most infected populations. For example, serological tests were conducted in cities such as Oldendorf in Germany, Wuhan in China, Mumbai in India, and Geneva in Switzerland. In Turkey, 153,000 people across the country have been tested for antibodies to COVID-19.
An action plan has been developed for the implementation of serological tests in Azerbaijan. The tests will be conducted on a voluntary basis among randomly selected population groups. For this purpose, randomly selected people will be called from the call center, and a specially trained bleeding nurse will be sent to the home of the person who agreed to take the test from the polyclinic in the area where he lives. It is enough to take only 3-5 ml of blood sample from a vein for examination. Blood samples will be delivered to the laboratory for analysis as soon as possible. Medical and statistical analysis of the results of the analysis will be carried out by specialists, and the public will be informed about the final results. Every volunteer who analyzes will be able to get their result. In addition, a general blood test can be performed at the request of the citizen.
At the initial stage, the research is planned to be conducted in Baku, Sumgayit and Ganja. The research will be carried out with reagents manufactured by the German company EUROIMMUN, imported by the state.
Note that after a person is infected with a virus, the body produces protective proteins - antibodies. It takes some time for antibodies against viruses to form. On the other hand, the retention of the formed immunity in the body may be temporary, not permanent. Therefore, it is necessary to perform serological tests as soon as possible and obtain results.