Visakhapatnam: In view of the increasing number of swine flu cases, the lack of high-end testing labs or Virology labs in Andhra Pradesh, has been delaying the arrival at a definite diagnosis and initiation of targeted treatment in the suspected swine flu cases.
It takes about three to four days to get the results from the Institute of Preventive Medicine in Hyderabad or the National Institute of Virology in Pune. But for the last few days, state officials have been sending the swine flu samples to the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences in Tirupati as an alternative.
The Indian Council of Medical Research sanctioned a Grade-II laboratory to the Microbiology Depart-ment in Andhra Medical College four years ago. But, it has not made any headway so far. The laboratory was supposed to have high-end serologic, histological and polymerised chain reaction (PCR) services besides primary pathologic services. But despite the change of government, there was no light at the end of the tunnel for this institute. Three days ago, a state team visited the Govern-ment Hospital for Chest and Communicable Diseases in Vizag and enquired about the existing facilities at the hospital. It was learnt that the team had also discussed the proposed virology lab in Visakhapatnam during their visit.
A district health official informed that it took three days to receive any test reports from Hyderabad and other places. “Currently, we are sending samples to the SVIMS in Tirupati. If two new regional virology laboratories come up in Visakhapatnam and Tiruapti, it will help us save the ‘golden period’ of patients. This will also help monitor the outbreak of the disease and help us alert individuals living in the vicinity of swine flu patients,” said the official.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Dr R. Ramana Rao, a general physician, said; “With the evolution of new strains and mutations of microbes, a high-end “virology laboratory” in this region is of utmost importance. It could help us to make clear-cut diagnosis and start treatment in the golden period without necessarily waiting for test results for days on end from laboratories situated in other places.”
