Treated many Covid patients, 2 hospitals picked for research

Ipsita Pati | TNN | Apr 29, 2020, 07:04 IST

Gurgaon: Two hospitals in Haryana — Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewati Government Medical College in Mewat and ESIC in Faridabad — have been nominated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Friday to be part of their research on the novel coronavirus. The hospitals were selected because both have dealt with a large number of Covid-19, 57 in Mewat and 46 in Faridabad till date.
The study aims to understand the genetic pattern of the virus and the way it has evolved over time.
“The study of the virus will help us in creating a vaccine in future. We will be submitting our analysis to ICMR. We have already collected 1,500 samples and will start the study soon,” said Aseem Das, dean of ESIC, Faridabad.
According to a senior health official in Mewat, the study will evaluate the behaviour of the virus in various temperatures and identify its different strains to find a cure. “The strains are the prerequisite for conducting any research related to viruses. As many researchers have observed, this virus has multiple strains and each infects people differently. So, we need to study all the possible strains in order to develop a vaccine,” he said.
A core team of three microbiologists will be conducting the study in each hospital. Samples of positive patients and the high-risk people will be collected by the hospitals. “This is not a clinical trial but a study of the virus. With no cure, we are losing time in this battle,” the health official pointed out.