One test for seven deadly fevers

The ‘Multiple PCR’ is done in real-time which extract nucleic acid of pathogens from whole blood. With a sensitivity and specificity of a 100 per cent, the test looks to provide a breather in terms of diagnosis to a country where according to certain estimates, 80 per cent of all illnesses are water-related.

Metropolis Healthcare Ltd, a leading multinational chain of diagnostic centres, launched India’s first single test for seven diseases which cause fever. The ‘Multiplex PCR’ test helps diagnose seven common diseases causing fever i.e. malaria, dengue, typhoid, leptospirosis, chikungunya, West Nile fever and rickettsia, thus saving cost and providing respite to people in a healthcare system that is getting more expensive and less inclusive by the day.

The ‘Multiple PCR’ is done in real-time which extract nucleic acid of pathogens from whole blood. With a sensitivity and specificity of a 100 per cent, the test looks to provide a breather in terms of diagnosis to a country where according to certain estimates, 80 per cent of all illnesses are water-related. In India, for example, dengue, typhoid and malaria outbreaks are common place owing to poor sanitation and drainage system. The test thus looks to save time and money, whilst ensuring that treatment starts at the earliest, thus reducing the burden and the trauma upon the potential patient.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Nilesh Shah, group president – scientific service and operation, SBU Head – West India, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd, said, “Our effort to eliminate infectious diseases receives a boost today as we achieve an important milestone in diagnostics, by providing convenience in healthcare which helps save time and lives. The test ensures earliest possible detection compared to all the conventional tests available. The patient may get diagnosed as early as on the first day of the fever. Secondly, the test is a confirmatory unlike screening tests being used conventionally, which may have false positivity. Multiplex PCR test is expected to significantly facilitate fever screening and therefore speed up identification of patients suffering from various symptoms of infectious disease.”

Patients suffering from high fever are often put through a battery of tests to detect the cause of fever, leading to a delay in treatment. In a sphere as critical as healthcare, time thus becomes of prime importance, and this is the lacunae that Metropolis Healthcare looks to fill, in its efforts to make diagnostic dilemma obsolete.