The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Virology lab to come up at Fever Hospital soon

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Monday, Jan 05, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Virology lab to come up at Fever Hospital soon

The lab will help hospital get MCI recognition for post-graduate courses

— PHOTO: P. V. SIVAKUMAR

Better service: The virology block getting ready at the Fever Hospital.

HYDERABAD: The five-year wait for a virology lab in the twin cities and subsequent recognition by Medical Council of India (MCI) for post-graduate courses in tropical medicine at Fever Hospital seems to be finally over. Hospital authorities have said that virology lab is likely to be inaugurated in February 2009.

Modelled on the lines of National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, it took five years to complete the virology lab with a cost of nearly Rs. 4 crore. “We are expecting the lab equipment to arrive by middle of this month. The construction part of the lab is complete. The lab will help us get MCI recognition for our PG courses,” said Superintendent of Fever Hospital Dr. P. Prasad.

Once fully operational, the lab can diagnose a wide range of viral diseases and pave the way for research in the field of tropical medicine. Earlier, MCI inspectors had recommended for additional facilities like a virology lab, bacterial lab and students facilities like libraries for recognition of PG seats.

Panel formed

A technical committee of experts, including microbiologists, was constituted to take up screening process for acquiring equipment for the lab. “About 50 per cent of the equipment would be acquired within a fortnight before the inauguration. In due course, the lab would be strengthened,” Dr. Prasad said. To work and do research in the hi-tech lab, technicians and professors from the hospital are being sent to various virology labs in twin cities and elsewhere for training. The equipment for the lab is expected to be acquired at a cost of nearly Rs. 2 crore.

The lab conforms to the Bio Safety Level 2 (BSL2), which means that personnel manning the facility would be competent to handle pathogenic agents and will work directly under senior researchers.

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Andhra Pradesh