Use only Elisa method to test for dengue, hospitals told

CHENNAI: The next time you go to a hospital or lab for a dengue test, make sure that they use the right testing method.

Putting an end to the uncertainty over various testing methods, all government and private hospitals in Tamil Nadu, including those run by the Chennai Corporation, have been instructed not to use ‘rapid test’ results to confirm cases of dengue and use only the Elisa test for the purpose.

Last year, the Chennai Corporation faced criticism for allegedly downplaying the number of dengue cases.

While private hospitals used the ‘rapid test’ method to determine the presence of dengue virus, the Health Department of the civic body, on the other hand, rejected it, calling the method inaccurate and unreliable.

“Elisa is a very detailed and accurate procedure based on antibody levels. Rapid test, on the other hand, can confirm only the presence of a virus and can’t zero in on the presence of dengue virus,” said a senior Corporation official.

Now with the new testing method (Elisa) on the cards, recently sprouted nursing homes and pathological labs which charged exorbitant rates from the patients will feel the heat.

Unlike rapid test, the Elisa method requires expertise and high-end equipment. Right now, only selected government centres and well-established private labs take up this procedure.

Corporation officials said they would soon convene a meeting with doctors from all private hospitals in the city as many tried to project all fever cases as dengue cases.

Responding to claims supported on the basis of NS1 antigen test, the Corporation official said that it was not a credible proof. 

Sources from the Directorate of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) said that hospitals would be instructed to record temporary and permanent addresses of those suspected of having contracted dengue. This is to determine whether there has been an outbreak in a particular area and carry out source reduction accordingly. 

These actions come in the backdrop of a circular released by the Union Health Ministry recently, wherein  smaller hospitals were instructed to refer dengue cases to the nearest government hospital for better healthcare apart from their sending blood samples to the nearest Sentinel Surveillance Hospital (SSH) for testing using Elisa technique and screening their patients’ kin for dengue.

“Doctors in government health institutions and registered medical practitioners of private hospitals or clinics are required to immediately inform the office of the District Health Authority of the district concerned, if suspected cases of dengue are reported at their health institutions,” the circular noted.

The Chennai Corporation, on its part, has reiterated the need to educate patients on the difference between dengue and seasonal fever cases to avoid rumour mongering.

In a meeting at the Ripon Building held on Monday, plans were discussed to intensify mosquito control measures and source reduction.