Background Earlier serosurveys in India revealed SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence of 0.73% during May-June and 7.1% during August-September 2020. We conducted the third serosurvey during Dec 2020 and Jan 2021, to estimate the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among general population and healthcare workers (HCWs) in India. Methods We conducted the serosurvey in the same 70 districts selected for the first and second serosurveys. From each district, we enrolled at least 400 individuals aged ≥ 10 years from general population and 100 HCWs from sub-district level health facilities. Sera from general population were tested for presence of IgG antibodies against nucleocapsid (N) and spike protein (S1-RBD) of SARS-CoV-2, whereas sera from HCWs were tested for anti-S1-RBD. We estimated weighted seroprevalence adjusted for assay characteristics. Results Of the 28,598 sera from general population, 4585 (16%) had IgG antibodies against N, 6647 (23.2%) against S1-RBD and 7436 (26%) against either. The weighted and assay characteristic adjusted seroprevalence against either of the antibodies was 24.1 (95%CI: 23.0%-25.3%). Among 7385 HCWs, the seroprevalence of anti-S1-RBD IgG antibodies was 25.6% (95% CI: 23.5%-27.8%). Conclusions Nearly one in four individuals aged > = 10 years from general population as well as HCWs in India were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 by December 2020.

Background Tuberculosis (TB) is among the top 10 causes of death worldwide and there are estimated 10.4 million new (incident) patients, of which about one fourth are in India. There has been calls for rigorous investigations and interventions that may address other factors known to have effect on adherence of treatment like Depression but the amount of research into comorbidity is surprisingly low. The aim of the study was to assess magnitude and impact of depression among TB patients and determine the treatment outcomes of TB in District Srinagar. Methods In this prospective study the adults with newly diagnosed TB were recruited within one month of initiating treatment and were followed upto the end of treatment. Data collection was done at three time-points: baseline, after 2 months and after 6 months of treatment initiation. The sample size of 200 was calculated using OpenEpi, V3 and identified 202 TB patients were interviewed in their local language and PHQ-9 scale was used to measure Depression. Results The prevalence of Depression at baseline was 50.5% with CI (43.7%-57.3%). After two months of treatment the prevalence reduced to 9.4% with CI (5.9%-14.0%) and at the end of treatment to 2.5% with CI (0.91%-5.4%). Association between Depression in TB patients and treatment failure was found to be small to medium as revealed by Cramer’s V test (0.29–0.59). Binary logistic regression estimated that at baseline TB patients with Depression were at 4.46 times at more risk of treatment failure than patients without Depression and those patients who continued Depression even after intensive phase were 34.5 times at higher risk. Conclusion Our findings indicate Depression is associated with poor treatment outcome in these patients, despite TB treatment. TB treatment strategies should consider screening and managing the psychologically distressed individuals among TB patients.

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