Government Plans to Ban the Sale of Rapid Diagnostic Dengue Test Kits

The Indian government plans to ban the sale of rapid diagnostic test kits used for 'quick' detection of dengue infection as it does not provide accurate results, revealed an official. Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Jagdish Prasad said, "Talks are going on with experts of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). We may ban the sale of rapid diagnostic kits, which are believed not to be reliable."

The union health ministry has also decided to seek reports from individual hospitals in Delhi, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital, to ensure that there is no fudging of dengue numbers reported in Delhi.

Prasad said, "The ministry only recommends ELISA-based kits, which are provided by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) at 499 sentinel surveillance hospitals and 15 apex referral laboratories to facilitate free diagnosis."

The decision comes a day after the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said, "The city has witnessed 1,259 dengue cases with two deaths till September 5, 2015, 38 times higher than 2014 during when, only 33 cases were recorded in the corresponding period."

Source-IANS