National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) is one of the country's seven Bio-Safety Level III Labs and among the 18 network labs in the country to test swine flu. It has been handling a maximum of 70 samples a day.
Bio-Safety Level III lab was set up in 2007 at an investment of Rs 2 crore. India has totally seven labs including NIMHANS in the Bio Safety Level 3 category. NIMHANS was certified as BSL-3 certified because it was found suitable for work with infectious agents as a result of exposure by the inhalation route.
In 2004, World Health Organization (WHO) mandated the need for Bio Safety Level III certification for labs testing virus of rabies and Japanese Encephalitis. NIMHANS is known to carry out tests for the two infectious diseases besides chickungunya. These tests can be carried out by only those facilities which are certified as Bio-Safety Level 2 and 3. Such labs will require to adhere to three stringent practices of care when a blood or mucous sample is opened for test. The mandatory requirements are separate dedicated areas for sample handling and testing. Air in the lab should behepa-filtered. The staff will use protective clothing including cap, mask and gloves. Another critical aspect is the autoclave of the protective gear after use.
Our lab has strength of 22 medical-scientific personnel including lab technicians, of which16 work round-the-clock to carry out the swine flu test. Unless NIMHANS lab issues the report, no hospital and state government can declare a person as H1N1 positive, Dr V Ravi, professor and Head, neuro-virology, NIMHANS, told Pharmabiz.
For the swine flu test, the staff had been administered the Brisbane flu shots for cross protection, he added. .
The other labs in the country which have the Bio Safety Level III certification are National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi, National Institute of Virology, Pune, High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL), Bhopal, King Institute of Preventive Medicine, Chennai, National Institute of Cholera, Enteric Diseases, Kolkata and Regional Medical Research Centre (Dibrugarh).
The Bio Safety Level 3 lab is a modular design which was assembled abroad and installed at NIMHANS.
With regards to swine flu, India is following containment strategy to control but instead should do administration of medication which is being adopted by the UK and other countries. Globally, there are 1,700 isolates of viral including H1N1 causing fever of which six have been drug resistant. The history of pandemic indicates that this swine flu in India is the first wave. With 70 percent of the world population in the northern hemisphere, incidence of flu is on the rise in colder countries and with winter setting in, air is heavier for the virus to breed. H1N1 is inactive against heat and in colder conditions transmission is higher. It is a novel virus which is a combination of pig, human and bird flu, stated Dr Ravi.