By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Rishikesh, 4 Sep: Professor Ravi Kant, Director and CEO, AIIMS, Rishikesh, and Prof Manoj Gupta, Dean-Academic, inaugurated the Covid-19 IgG/IgM antibody and Cytokine profile testing Laboratory with Biosafety level type-2 facility at the AIIMS’ Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory. This lab facility has been established by Professor Vivekanandhan S and his team.
The Director appreciated Dr Vivekanandhan’s innovative ideas and his continuous efforts to introduce new investigations in the Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory for the service of the public. Prof Vivekanandan explained that this facility would be available for the first time in Uttarakhand to provide IgM, IgG and Cytokine profile testing by Chemiluminescence Immuno Assay (CLIA) method. SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing is required for Convalescent plasma therapy, sero-surveillance, population screening and to monitor the progression of Novel Coronavirus disease.
Cytokine profile is required for therapeutic monitoring and to monitor the progress of the disease. The department has two fully automatic chemiluminescence immune assay analysers, dedicated to antibody and cytokine profile testing. One machine is capable of doing 240 tests per hour and another machine is capable of doing 180 tests per hour. Each machine can give the result in 40 minutes.
Prof Manoj Gupta emphasised the importance of antibody screening and expressed his wish to screen the Rishikesh population for COVID-19 antibodies. Dr Vivekanandhan S expressed his heartfelt thanks to his team members Dr Prasan Kumar Panda (Department of General Medicine), Dr Gita Negi (Department of Transfusion Medical & Blood Bank), Dr Sarama Saha (Associate Professor), Dr Karanvir Kaushal (Senior Resident), Brijesh Ramola, Jyoti Tiwari (Technical Assistant) and his department colleagues.
