This story is from October 17, 2018

Swine flu diagnosis at two Marathwada med colleges

Swine flu diagnosis at two Marathwada med colleges
Pune: The state-run medical colleges in Aurangabad and Latur will roll out swine flu testing facilities that will augment the testing capacity in the public sector and help treat patients in time.
“We want to begin two facilities at the government medical colleges in Marathwada region where currently no testing facility for swine flu is available either in the government or private healthcare,” state surveillance officer Pradip Awate told TOI.

Medical expert Kanan Yelikar, dean of the Government Medical College in Aurangabad, said, “We installed the high end real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test machinery at our institute last week. The testing work is underway.”
The state public health department has formed regional committees, comprising experts from premier virology research institutes and government-run medical colleges, to scrutinize and validate the diagnostic facilities of labs that plan to offer the testing facilities.
The government has also decided to approve standalone private laboratories and those attached to big hospitals to start swine flu testing facilities. The health department has decentralized the procedure.
“We have set up three committees for Mumbai, Nagpur and the rest of Maharashtra. Experts from the NIV and government-run medical colleges will evaluate the laboratories on various parameters,” a state health official said.

During the early phase of the outbreak, every suspected patient was tested for swine flu.
Now, only samples of patients in the ICU and those whose condition is moderately severe, but fall in the high-risk category — like pregnant women, HIV-positive, those who suffer from hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, genetic disorders and others — are sent to the laboratories for testing.
Pravin Shingare, director of Directorate of Medical Education and Research that oversees the government medical collges could not be contacted for his comment despite several attempts.
author
About the Author
Umesh Isalkar

Umesh Isalkar is principal correspondent at The Times of India, Pune. He has a PG degree in English literature and is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. Umesh covers public health, medical issues, bio-medical waste, municipal solid waste management, water and environment. He also covers research in the fields of medicine, cellular biology, virology, microbiology, biotechnology. He loves music and literature.

End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA