AMIDST DENGUE SCARE, ELISA KITS TURN ELUSIVE

Lucknow: The health department is treating the patient as a dengue victim only after confirmation from the ELISA kit. Irony however remains that  40 percent of the hospitals in the city do not have the facility of testing with ELISA kits. Private hospitals are also treating the patient as a dengue victim and making a bill when the report comes positive.

More than 150 such suspected patients are admitted in hospitals. The District Malaria Officer has been quoted saying that there is a possibility of getting the report wrong in the test with the card. Only ELISA test has been recognized by the government. If the hospital is testing by card, then cross-examination of samples is done by the Health Department in District Hospital and Post Graduate Institute of Child Health.

Both of these are central labs recognized by the government. More than 3500 suspected patients have been cross-examined with ELISA kits. Dengue has been confirmed in 169 of these patients. And the reports of patients can be issued. According to the information, 40 percent of the hospitals do not have the facility of testing with ELISA kit. 18 beds have been earmarked for dengue patients in the district hospital.