Jamshedpur’s MGMC hospital runs out of dengue testing kits
The MGMC referral laboratory and Chaibasa hospital are the only two government-run centres with testing facilities for dengue, JE, brain malaria and chikungunya in Kolhan division.
Dengue is wreaking havoc in Jamshedpur, with 77 people testing positive for the disease. And to make matters worse, all new samples are being sent to Sadar hospital in Chaibasa as the state referral laboratory at the Mahatma Gandhi Medical College (MGMC) exhausted its stock of testing kits five days ago.
The MGMC referral laboratory and Chaibasa hospital are the only two government-run centres with testing facilities for dengue, JE, brain malaria and chikungunya in Kolhan division, which comprises East Singbhum, West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan districts.
“We had requisitioned testing kits from the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune and it was dispatched. But as per the latest information, it has been stuck in transit due to the incessant rains and flooding of railway lines. We hope to get a testing kit from the NIV in a day or two,” Dr AC Akhauri, referral laboratory in-charge and head of the MGMC microbiology department, told HT on Thursday.
The deadly Japanese Encephalitis (JE) has also been prevalent this year, with nine testing positive for the disease.
“With blood samples of 20-25 suspected cases being sent for tests almost every day, the stock was bound to exhaust. But we are in touch with Chaibasa and Ranchi for alternate supply of testing kits and have also requested NIV to send more testing kits,” said Dr Pal.
District surveillance officer Dr Sahir Pal told HT that testing reports from Chaibasa hospital on Thursday confirmed that 20 cases of 45 samples tested positive for dengue while the report for seven samples of JE was still awaited.
Emergency meet on vector-borne diseases
Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) state director Dr Ramesh Prasad will chair an emergency meeting-cum-workshop on vector-borne diseases like dengue and JE and its spread in East Singhbhum in Jamshedpur on September 10.
“We’ve called civil surgeons, public health centre medical officers, district surveillance officers and district malaria officers from the three districts in Kolhan as well as the MGM Hospital deputy superintendent, head of the MGMC microbiology department and representatives of private hospitals,” said Dr Pal.