SVIMS lab to conduct quality check of Covid testing in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh

HYDERABAD: In an attempt to make all government-approved Covid-19 testing labs in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana accountable, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has asked all the labs to cross-check their results. The virology lab at Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS), Tirupati, has been designated to do the quality check of Covid-19 results of the government labs of both states.
The testing happens for the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) samples. “The test review exercise will happen once every fifteen days. Five negative test results and five positive test results are needed from each lab for quality check,” Dr B Vengamma, director of SVIMS said. The labs will randomly choose these samples.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has so far approved more than 100 government labs in both states. The SVIMS will process samples again and mail the results to the health departments of both states.
The health department will compare results from the individual labs and the institute for disparities. “If the results are different, the labs will be critically reviewed and surprise inspections will be conducted to ensure there was no compromise with testing and results,” said a senior official. However, the private labs in Telangana have to send their samples to Gandhi Hospital for quality check. However, private labs have expressed concern about the review move, highlighting that the government itself has, on several occasions, accepted that the virus was tricky and test results were not consistent.
According to additional professor Dr Vijay Kumar (NIMS) , clinical pharmacology wing, there is also an international quality checking programme with designated private agencies. “In this method any lab can enroll themselves with such agencies. They will have to send samples for testing and results will be compared with their internal results,” he said.