Aurangabad: The measles testing facility was made available at Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) of the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). The test report will be available in 6 to 8 years.
Dean of GMCH Dr Sanjay Rathod said that Aurangabad Municipal Corporation and District Health Officer were informed about the facility of measles diagnosis facility.
There is a measles outbreak in Mumbai, Bhiwandi and Malegaon in the State. Some suspects of measles were found. In the report, some test samples were found positive.
Earlier, samples of suspects were being sent to Mumbai. The availability of a test report would take six to seven days. Considering the delay, the testing facility was made available at VRDL of GMCH.
It may be noted that the VRLD was launched on March 29, 2020, for Covid testing. The then dean and head of the Microbiology Department Dr Jyoti Bajaj-Irawne had taken efforts for starting the facility during the Covid period, Before this laboratory, the swab samples of Covid suspects were being to the National Institute of Virology Pune.
The doctors had to wait for many days for the report of patients. With the availability of Covid test here, the report was being available in the next few hours. Now, the measles test report will also be available in a few hours. Meanwhile, the AMC had already sent samples of nine suspects to Mumbai until it gets information on testing facilities available in the city.
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Vaccination, separate ward available
Dr Sanjay Rathod said that medicines required for measles treatment are available in GMCH. “A separate ward (no 4) has been kept ready for measles vaccination and patients. The employees were provided required training during Covid from measles point of view,” he added.