PUDUCHERRY: Scientists at the Vector Control Research Centre (VCRC) in Pondicherry have sent a proposal to the central government’s fitness government asking them to “reorient” the rt-PCR laboratories recently used for covid-19 testing so that they can be exploited to the dangers of human exposure to vector-borne diseases.
VCRC operates under the Medical Research Council of India (ICMR). Since the COVID-19 outbreak, India has established 3382 RT-PCR laboratories. What we have proposed to the Union Ministry of Health to launch a molecular xenovigilance network for the control of vector-borne diseases,” said Dr Ashwani Kumar, Director of ICMR-VCRC, in an interview.
“Xenomonithene provides a high-performance, less invasive option with the highest sensitivity and specificity. You can assess infection in mosquito pools and thousands of mosquitoes can be tested in mosquito pools in a single day. “
Kumar said there are two tactics to monitor the dangers of vector-borne disease transmission. “One way is to monitor guilty organisms like parasites or other viruses, and the other is to monitor the vector that transmits the disease. “to track the vectors that transmit the disease. This will allow us to know the agents in those vectors. “
The institute will first monitor a mosquito called Culex, which transmits lymphatic filariasis. India has so far reported more than 480,000 cases in 328 districts. Later, the xenovigilance network will be expanded to identify unreported sites.
Lymphatic filariasis is transmitted through mosquitoes, which causes lymphedema and elephantiasis in men and women, and hydrocele, inflammation of the scrotum in men. “We would want primers and probes for this specific agent to stumble upon them,” Kumar said. , and added that it is time to implement xenovigilance in the program of elimination of lymphatic filariasis by building a national network of such services as a complementary tool in the evaluation of transmission.
Between January and May, India reported 10,172 cases of dengue with 3 deaths, according to data from the National Center for vector-Borne Disease Control, a company under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. As of June, approximately 1,554 cases of chikunguyna have been reported, while 62 cases of Japanese encephalitis and two deaths have been detected. As of April, 21,558 cases of malaria and 4 deaths have been reported.
The scientists prepared the framework for the proposal and sent it to the ICMR. This protocol will be established by collecting information in real time in the formula of a network of laboratories. In addition, it will also help collect information on other mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria, chikungunya and dengue.
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