BANGALORE: The researchers at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences (NIMHANS), along with city-based Xycton Diagnostics Limited, are ready with a diagnostic chip to identify the cause for the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infection following several deaths due to Japanese encephalitis (JE) in Uttar Pradesh. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) under the Union Health Ministry is likely to send samples from affected areas like Gorakhpur and Dibrugarh (Assam) for testing, by using the multiplex chip as a part of the institute’s field trial study.More interestingly, unlike other test kits, this indigenous test kit can detect as many as twenty two pathogens which cause acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in a single blood drop.“With the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technology, a total of twenty two viral disorders can be detected using a single drop of blood, which is not possible in other kits”, said Dr Satish Chandra, director of NIMHANS. Funded by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), NIMHANS, in association with ICMR and Bangalore-based Xycton Diagnostics Ltd, is engaged in designing and developing the kit for more than two years.“During the course of the study, the PCR kit had been successfully validated with 425 samples. Of the total, 200 were AES and 225 were non AES. The kit facilitated the testing of RNA, DNA, virus, bacteria, fungi and parasite”, said Dr V Ravi, professor in the Department of Neurovirology, NIMHANS. He also said that the process is on for filing a patent on this technology. Regarding the cost, Dr Ravi added that though the cost has not yet been finalised, it is expected to be on the higher side.Meanwhile,NIMHANS director Dr Sathish Chandra has written a letter to the Union Health Ministry seeking support for imparting training to those engaged in rehabilitating and providing psychiatric services for the victims in Uttar Pradesh.
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