‘Test reports by SMS med college reliable’

Jaipur: Centre’s expert team sent for helping state’s health department in preventing spread of Zika virus confirmed that test reports on Zika issued by Sawai Man Singh Medical College are “reliable”.

So far, Jaipur has reported 29 Zika positive cases.

Initially, the health department was sending samples of serum and urine of suspected Zika patients to National Institute of Virology, Pune for confirmation. Only those samples were sent for confirmation, which were tested positive for Zika in SMS Medical College’s microbiology laboratory.

“The test reports issued by NIV, Pune were similar to the test reports issued by the SMS Medical College. Team from the Centre has also affirmed that the test reports issued by SMS medical college are reliable,” said Veenu Gupta, additional chief secretary (health).

Dr P Ravindran, director, emergency medical relief, Directorate general of health Services, ministry of health and family welfare, said, “The diagnosis of Zika virus is done by using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).”

Dr Ravindran, who is part of the centre’s expert team sent for helping state in preventing spread of Zika, said, “In Rajasthan, there are five laboratories that can test for Zika.”

The five laboratories are situated in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jhalawar, Udaipur and Kota.

The health department conducted an orientation programme of doctors including gynaecologists, paediatricians and general physicians on Zika. These doctors were provided information when to suggest test for Zika to pregnant women and other patients suffering from fever.

So far, health department has sent 450 samples for testing of Zika to Sawai Man Singh Medical College. During the testing, 29 persons have already been tested positive for Zika.