Nepali lab ready for Dengue test

Dengue fever, a communicable disease that has claimed more than 60 people in India can now be diagnosed in Kathmandu.

"Diagnosis is possible in Nepal and infected people need not go to India or other countries," said a statement of National Reference Laboratory (NRL).

Talking to Nepalnews, chief of NRL, Chintamani Sharma, informed that they will start sample tests of Dengue fever after a week once the medical kit arrives from Israel.

“Though there are no cases of Dengue fever in Nepal so far, if any suspected cases arrives, we will preserve the blood sample for a week till our kit arrives and we will start giving the result within the day then after,” Sharma added.

He has asked all health workers to send the blood samples to NRL for testing in case any patients are suspected to be infected.

High temperature, pain in muscles and joints, vomiting and dizziness are the symptoms of Dengue fever.

The disease spreads by bites of the mosquito of the Aedes aegypti species that are found in the Terai region mostly during the rainy season.

Sharma informed that testing for Dengue costs Rs. 1500.

The disease has already killed more than 60 people in India by Saturday while 60,000 others are said to be infected by the disease.

There is high risk of spread of the disease in Nepal as Nepal shares a long open border with India.

Talking to Nepalnews, spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population, Arjun Bahadur Singh informed that the Ministry had already directed all health institutions to be cautious about the disease and make people aware about the measures to be safe from the disease.

He however said that the government had not directed health institutions to send the blood samples for tests, as the disease has not been reported in the country so far. nepalnews.com pb Oct 09 06