Mayo sends 2 Covid samples to Neeri for genome sequencing
2
Nagpur: Days after two patients with comorbidities died at a private and a govt hospital recently, Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMCH) forwarded samples of two Covid patients for genome sequencing to Neeri lab on Wednesday.
IGGMCH officials said these samples belong to their employees who tested positive and have recovered.
No new Covid case was reported on Tuesday and the city now has only two active Covid patients who are under home isolation. The NMC too is likely to send samples of the two recent Covid victims for genome sequencing. NMC medical officer (health) Dr Deepak Selokar told TOI that all health workers have been kept on alert and testing would be scaled up if needed.
"Samples of influenza-like illness (ILI) patients are collected and sent to medical colleges for testing.
But currently there is no surge of ILI patients. We had just 10 Covid cases in May and two active patients at present," he said.
Dr Selokar added that the deceased patients had underlying health conditions, yet it was decided to consider such mortalities as Covid deaths if the tests are positive. "One of the patients' samples was taken on the day he died at GMCH.
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The other patient, a woman, had diabetes and renal failure. She started showing symptoms of respiratory infection, and hence her sample was taken, which tested positive. Accordingly, we updated the deaths on the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) portal," he said.
Dr Sunita Sharma, Director General of Health Services, held a review meeting with representatives of Disaster Management Cell, Emergency Management Response Cell, National Centre for Disease Control, Indian Council of Medical Research, IDSP, and Central Government Hospitals in Delhi, along with representatives from all states and UTs, to evaluate the current Covid-19 situation and preparedness measures.
The participants concurred that most cases are mild and managed under home care.
Forty-four Covid deaths have been reported since January this year primarily among individuals with pre-existing illnesses. State and district surveillance units under IDSP are closely monitoring ILI and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) patients. Testing is recommended for all hospitalised SARI cases and 5% of ILI cases as per guidelines. Positive SARI samples are sent for whole genome sequencing through the ICMR-VRDL network.
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The Hindu
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