Private hospitals in Madhya Pradesh’s state capital continue to declare patients dengue positive through a less authentic rapid kit test against the government guidelines which recommend Elisa test instead, medical experts said on Tuesday.
Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay test, which is popularly known as Elisa test, is the government recommended test for dengue whereas the rapid kit test results could be misleading, causing needless trauma to the patient and the family members, they said, quoting many cases wherein a patient was declared having dengue but Elisa test later disproved it. So far, the Elisa test has confirmed over 70 patients with dengue in the city so far.
Recently, a 13-year-old girl resident of Railway Colony Habibganj was declared dengue positive by a private hospital on the basis of the rapid kit test. However, the Elisa test conducted by the health department later proved that she wasn’t suffering from dengue but some other infection. However, for two to three days, her family members suffered mental and physical trauma.
Health officials said the city has only three government hospitals, namely JP Hospital, Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC), Hamidia Hospital and district malaria department, which have the Elisa test facility. However, private hospitals choose a cheaper rapid kit test in such cases.
{{/usCountry}}Health officials said the city has only three government hospitals, namely JP Hospital, Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC), Hamidia Hospital and district malaria department, which have the Elisa test facility. However, private hospitals choose a cheaper rapid kit test in such cases.
{{/usCountry}}Chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Veena Sinhasaid, “This practice is against the government guidelines which clearly state that the Elisa test reports of a dengue patient will be considered confirmatory and not that of the rapid kit test.” She said the health department had sent a government of India advisory in this regard to all the private nursing homes and pathology centres of the state.
Retired microbiology professor Deepak Dubey said the rapid kit test could be used during an emergency but the Elisa test should be the preferred choice for the doctors. However, he said the management of dengue was as important as its diagnosis and treatment were. He clarified that the line of treatment for a dengue suspected patient should not be changed even if the reports were negative.