The health ministry and statistics agency ISTAT started a survey of the seroprevalence of infection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on Monday, May 25, in collaboration with the Italian Red Cross.
Antibodies
This will make it possible to see how many people in Italy have developed antibodies to the novel coronavirus, even in the absence of symptoms.
Tests on 150,000 People
A sample of 150,000 people in 2,000 towns and cities, split by sex, occupation and six age brackets, will be tested.
It will be possible to use the results of the survey, which will be released in an anonymous, aggregated form, for other scientific studies and for comparative analysis with other European countries.
Reliable Results
It is fundamentally important that the people selected to be in the sample take part in order to have reliable, useful results. Participation is not obligatory, but, given the country’s epidemiological situation, everyone is needed.
Red Cross
The people selected will be contacted via telephone by the Italian Red Cross’s regional centres to arrange an appointment for a blood sample to be taken at one of the selected laboratories.
The sample can be taken at home if the person is fragile or vulnerable.
Questionnaire
When contact is made, the person will also be asked to respond to a specific questionnaire drafted by ISTAT, in agreement with the CTS (Scientific Technical Committee).
Positive Tests
The regional government will inform each participant residing in their territory of the result of the test.
If the test is positive, the person in question will be put temporarily into isolation at home and will be contacted by the regional health service or the local ASL health authority to do a nasopharyngeal swab to verify whether they are contagious.
Privacy
The participants’ privacy will be respected throughout the survey.
Identification Number
All the individuals taking part will be assigned an anonymous identification number in order to be able to obtain the result of the test.
The link between this identification number and the individual will be managed by the survey’s working group and it will only be revealed to authorized bodies.
Advert
An advert about the survey will screened on all of State broadcaster RAI’s network and posters will be put up in pharmacies and drugstores, thanks to the collaboration of Federfarma and FOFI, the federation of Italian pharmacist guilds.
Fonte Salute.gov.it News