SHILLONG: The state government has proposed to the Centre to allow use of two RT-PCR(reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) machines to test for COVID-19.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) at Umiam has the machines.
Commissioner and Secretary, Health and Family Welfare department, Sampath Kumar said that he had taken up the matter with the Union Health Minister a long time ago, but a response was still awaited. He attributed the delay in response to the ministry’s preoccupation with other states since Meghalaya till then was free from the pandemic. Now, though, the state has 10 active cases after one death.
He said the proposal is required to be approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) before the machines can be used adding that scientists visited ICAR on Saturday to get the technical know-how on the operation of the machines. “It would take some time, but we have also written to the ICAR director on the matter, “ he said.
It is also learnt that the ICMR has allowed use of such machines with ICAR in Uttar Pradesh for the purpose.
Meanwhile, some doctors who did not wish to be identified, said that the state government should explore the idea of using GeneXpert TB Platform which could pave the way for more testing.
They said that most of the hospitals in the city have GeneXpert TB Platform, which are an easy way to test for COVID-19 and results can be out in quick time though it is not as effective as RT-PCR.
Sampath Kumar said GeneXpert TB Platform is not a full-fledged system which can give accurate results, whereas RT-PCR can indicate whether a case is positive or negative.
He, however, said that the government is open to the idea of using GeneXpert TB Platform.
Some reports say that US Food & Drug Administration authorisation of a rapid COVID-19 test on the GeneXpert platform, one of the most widely-used TB diagnostic tools in the world, could be the first crack in the doorway to wider testing capacity in low and middle-income countries. It is said that there are some 23,000 GeneXpert devices worldwide, including an estimated 7000-10,000 instruments scattered across Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia.
While not a high-throughput device, the GeneXpert technology produced by the California-based firm Cepheid, can process nose swab samples in a mere 45 minutes, and perform up to 96 tests in 24 hours.
