Swine Flu Testing - New labs fail to match WHO biosafety levels

In a bid to step up its battle against swine flu, the state government ordered the construction of three new testing laboratories but neither of the labs meet international safety precautions. As per WHO, laboratories that culture influenza A (H1N1) viruses should have biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) -but none of the testing laboratories in the state register more than level 2 in biosafety. Moreover, two of these laboratories do not have the equipment that helps diagnose the virus strain.

This year, 122 people have succumbed to swine flu while 2,000 are currently being monitored. Taking into the consideration the increasing number of swine flu cases and with Kutch and Jamnagar recording 25 per cent of the total number of swine flu cases, the state health department, in February, announced construction of three laboratories in Kutch, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar. Each lab was to be built at the cost of Rs 25 lakh each.However, none of the labs measure up to biosafety level 3 (BSL-3).

Explaining the concept of biosafety levels and the lack thereof at these new laboratories, an officer from the state health department on condition of anonymity said, “Biosafety level is the level of precautions required to be maintained in laboratories that handle contagious biological agents.

The H1N1 virus is extremely contagious and requires a BSL-3 but the lab in Kutch has been designed as per BSL-2, below the international sanc tioned standard.“

As stated by WHO on its website: “Demonstration of attenuation should be sufficient to reduce the level of containment from the current WHO recommendation of biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) for culture of influenza A(H1N1) viruses.“Elaborating on the importance of labs confirming to BSL-3, virologist and swine flu expert Dr Hemant Patel said, “It is imperative for hospitals to have BSL-3; this also requires expensive machines which most private hospitals cannot afford. It is imperative that government hospitals update their safety system to ensure security.“

In fact, the biosafety level at the laboratory in Civil Hospital is a level 2. Although hospital authorities have confirmed upgradation to level 3, the work is moving at snail's pace, say sources.

Incidentally, the labs in Bhavnagar and Jamnagar are of a primary lev el -capable of providing initial treatment and testing the virus but not equipped to identify the virus strain.“A fully-equipped lab would require an expenditure of Rs 60 to 80 lakh but these labs are yet at a primary stage due to the state's slow process. These labs are missing RT-PCR, the main machine that helps detection and characterisation of the swine flu virus,“ added Dr Hemant.

The state has four laboratories including two in Ahmedabad (BJ Medical College, Sola College) and two others in Rajkot and Vadodara respectively.

When questioned in the matter, Commissioner of Health, JP Gupta said, “All required safety measures are maintained while providing services to patients and medical staff working with swine flu.“

On Wednesday, seven new cases were identified, taking the season total up to 80.