PRINCE KUMAR
Ranchi, May 12: With 34 Covid-19 active cases in the state, the infection scare continues to grow in the state.
However, the state health department and the state’s largest tertiary care centre, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), are not prepared to diagnose any variant of the SARS-CoV-2 in the absence of pieces of equipment required to make the genome sequencing machine functional even after the lapse of two years since Covid-19 stuck.
The health department records reveal that the state has 34 active cases of Covid-19 on Thursday morning. Experts have warned of a spike in Covid-19 cases in June.
However, the identification of the new XE variant is going to be tough in the absence of an operational genome sequencing machine for the state health machinery.
Sources at RIMS said that the machine was unwrapped yesterday which had reached RIMS on March 29. The machine was also physically checked for any kind of damage.
RIMS official said that they have received the machine but it hasn’t been installed yet as a few accessories required for operating it are yet to be procured. “We have finalised the tenders for procuring the accessories which will take 4 to 6 weeks to reach RIMS premises. We will start genome sequencing as soon as we receive these,” he added.
Notably, Jharkhand High Court criticised the government in January for its failure to start genome sequencing at the RIMS campus and asked the state government and RIMS to file a status report on the same.
Jharkhand is at present dependent on the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar, for ascertaining the variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. During the last wave, the Delta and the Omicron variants were detected long after the infection had spread in the state as the transportation of samples from Jharkhand to the lab in Bhubaneswar and receiving the reports used to take over a week.
A health expert said that this genome sequencing will be a game-changer not only for coronavirus but for other diseases too. With the help of the machine detection of the strain of the virus will become possible because which mortality rate can be decreased.
“With the help of the genome sequencing machine, various studies over different diseases can also be performed which will increase the effectiveness of medicines and therapies. After studying genetics proper medications can be provided which will also control the side-effects associated with certain medicines,” the expert said.
“The sequencing process helps scientists understand changes in the genetic makeup of an organism or cell type, which gives pointers on how diseases are formed and on how to diagnose and treat them. The genome sequencer is used to look for variants, but it can do more than that. The sequencer can look at the genetic makeup of organisms, whether the entire organism, part of their genetic material or part of their RNA or DNA and how the nucleotides are laid out. The sequencer can discover new causes of infection. For example, if a new pathogen arrives, we’ll be able to tell by using next-generation sequencing. Sequencing allows for the analysis and comparison of hundreds or thousands of DNA strands at a time,” a health expert added.
