Health CAS Rashid Aman has backed the report released by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) which indicated that around 2.6 million Kenyans have already been exposed to the Coronavirus. The revealing report, is a result of research conducted by KEMRI and the Health Ministry, with blood from donors tested. Speaking to the press on Friday, Health CAS Rashid Aman said the study was commissioned by the Ministry of Health together with KEMRI in order to look at the prevalence of Covid-19 in the general population, “So that we get an idea of the number of Kenyans exposed to the virus,” he said, adding that it wasn’t supposed to be released this early yet.
The research looked at antibodies in blood, developed by the body to attack foreign substances. In this case, the presence of antibodies to the Coronavirus indicated someone may have already been infected or exposed to the virus at some point in the past and the body developed mechanisms to cope.
The blood tested for antibodies was collected from the National Blood Transfusion centres, donated in the last two months. CAS Aman said the health officials looked at the areas where there was a good number of samples like Nairobi and Mombasa, “We are then able to determine the percentage prevalence in every 100 people and tell how many have antibodies.”
From the research, it has been established many Kenyans may have already been exposed to the virus, with the prevalence of antibodies in Nairobi County at 12.4 percent, translating to at least 500,000 people already exposed. Mombasa is 8.6%, Kisumu 7.5%, Central Kenya 6.7%, Machakos County 6.2%, Western 4.3%.
Aman said the information is useful and will be used in the modelling projections to be able to provide more data to work with and improve predictions the models are likely to make. However, he said the data shouldn’t be taken as totally accurate in its representation since the sample size was fairly small. He said the data may not accurately represent the whole scope since those who donated blood did so for family members, thus close affiliations and also most of the people who donate may be young people, therefore, setting aside a huge chunk of the society in the process.