Second swine flu testing facility opens

Private lab arrives at a time when virus seems to be leaving city

Second swine flu testing facility opens

Private lab arrives at a time when virus seems to be leaving city

Bangalore got its much-awaited private H1N1 testing facility yesterday at a time when the worst seems to be over.

Not a single person has tested positive in the past week at the government testing centre, which just a few weeks ago was flooded with throat swabs to be analysed.

Bangalore, where the number of H1N1 cases had stood at 81, till now had only the Nimhans virology department for tests.u00a0 And the Nimhans facility, with a capacity to test 100 samples a day, was being sent samples from across the state.

T S Cheluvaraju, head of the Swine Flu Monitoring Cell set up by the state government, agreed that it would have been better had the lab opened earlier.

"Cases of swine flu have dipped considerably in recent days," he said. "There are few cases now, but we are on our guard and as prepared as ever."

Bhujanga Shetty, Narayana Nethralaya chairman and managing director, said the new testing facility had the capacity to test 80 samples a day. "The lab will be operated by an eight-member team, including a microbiologist. Pathologists have been trained at Nimhans to conduct the test," Shetty said.u00a0 The cost of each test will be Rs 5,500 and the report will be issued within 24 hours.

"We have been using real-time testing equipment for the past two years to detect eye infections, but realising the need for H1N1 tests, we have procured another device exclusively for the purpose," a microbiologist with the hospital said.

1,276 The total number of positive H1N1 cases in Karnataka
420u00a0The swine flu death toll for the whole of India

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