After shot, Indian companies develop H1N1 detection kit
NEW DELHI: The nation has developed an indigenous swine flu detection kit, which comes close on the heels of an homegrown swine flu vaccine.
As the country reels under a fresh H1N1 swine flu outbreak -- 548 fresh cases were reported only last week that is the highest for this year along with 38 deaths between July 19 and 25 -- three Indian companies have successfully developed H1N1 detection kits.
Defence Research and Development Organisation, Imperial Life Sciences and Ocimum have been credited with the feat following a review by ICMR director general Dr V M Katoch.
Speaking to TOI, Dr Katoch said, "These companies have successfully developed indigenous swine flu testing kits. At present, India imports these kits from US-based Applied Biosystems and Swiss firm Roche Diagnostics, which are quite expensive. The Indian kits will cost only one-third as compared to their imported counterparts."
Union health ministry officials said all companies, who were trying to develop these kits, were given both testing protocol and guidelines on how to evaluate their products.
"We will unveil the most promising product in the next few weeks. The idea is to get an effective testing kit available as early as possible," said the ICMR director.
According to Dr Katoch, the H1N1 swine flu virus would become an endemicvirus from a pandemic one by next year.
"All pandemics have been seen to stabilise in two years before it becomesendemic. Presently, testing has been reduced since it is still a pandemic. However, once it becomes endemic to countries, the world at large will require diagnostic tools for it," he explained.
Despite the high cost, India had been importing the CDC-approved realtime PCR kits for detection of H1N1. For each negative test, the country was spending Rs 5,000. While for every positive test, the cost is Rs 10,000.
Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had said indigenous low-cost testing kits would bring down the price of testing a single sample by as much as 20 times.
Meanwhile, Dr Katoch said the ongoing monsoon has been responsible for a recent spurt of swine flu cases. Around 1,692 deaths have been reported since its outbreak in May last year.
As the country reels under a fresh H1N1 swine flu outbreak -- 548 fresh cases were reported only last week that is the highest for this year along with 38 deaths between July 19 and 25 -- three Indian companies have successfully developed H1N1 detection kits.
Defence Research and Development Organisation, Imperial Life Sciences and Ocimum have been credited with the feat following a review by ICMR director general Dr V M Katoch.
Speaking to TOI, Dr Katoch said, "These companies have successfully developed indigenous swine flu testing kits. At present, India imports these kits from US-based Applied Biosystems and Swiss firm Roche Diagnostics, which are quite expensive. The Indian kits will cost only one-third as compared to their imported counterparts."
Union health ministry officials said all companies, who were trying to develop these kits, were given both testing protocol and guidelines on how to evaluate their products.
"We will unveil the most promising product in the next few weeks. The idea is to get an effective testing kit available as early as possible," said the ICMR director.
According to Dr Katoch, the H1N1 swine flu virus would become an endemicvirus from a pandemic one by next year.
"All pandemics have been seen to stabilise in two years before it becomesendemic. Presently, testing has been reduced since it is still a pandemic. However, once it becomes endemic to countries, the world at large will require diagnostic tools for it," he explained.
Despite the high cost, India had been importing the CDC-approved realtime PCR kits for detection of H1N1. For each negative test, the country was spending Rs 5,000. While for every positive test, the cost is Rs 10,000.
Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had said indigenous low-cost testing kits would bring down the price of testing a single sample by as much as 20 times.
Meanwhile, Dr Katoch said the ongoing monsoon has been responsible for a recent spurt of swine flu cases. Around 1,692 deaths have been reported since its outbreak in May last year.
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