siliguri: For the first time, the Adenovirus test commenced at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) with only four samples since Friday. The samples have been sent to the Microbiology department for the test.
“Although there is still no reason to panic in North Bengal, we have started taking precautionary measures. The number of ARI patients is also very less. But, for our academic interest, we have started the test of the virus from today,” stated Dr Sushanta Roy, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Public Health, North Bengal. The OSD stated this after a meeting on the Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) cases in North Bengal. The meeting was held at the conference hall of the NBMCH on Friday.
After the meeting, he said that the Microbiology department of the university will do the tests. A team from the department will draw the samples and will test them at the lab.
The four samples have been collected from the patients who are undergoing treatment at the hospital. The hospital authorities have arranged to test 50 samples a day.
If the number of samples increases in future, the rest of the samples will be sent to the School of Tropical Medicines (STM) Kolkata.
It is noted that a total of 12 children have been admitted to the pediatric ward of the NBMCH with ARI infections presently.
One child has been admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). The child is from Jalpaiguri.
There are 100 beds in the pediatric ward, 18 beds in PICU and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and 30 beds in Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU).
In 2021, the State Health department had given Rs 15 lakh for the testing of adeno and rhinovirus.
But due to no response to the tender call, the money was returned in October 2022. But now finally the test started in the hospital.