Mumbai’s Kasturba Hospital to start tests to detect variants next week

The Kasturba Gandhi hospital in Chinchpokli installed genome sequencing machines in their laboratory on Tuesday. The hospital will begin conducting tests to identify variants of Sars-Cov-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19 – from next week, making it the first civic-run hospital to conduct whole genome sequencing in Mumbai.

The high speed machine can run tests on 380 samples per round. The civic body will incur a cost of ₹10,000 for testing each sample. The machines will be inaugurated by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday.

Genome sequencing is an exercise to study the changes in the structure of the virus over time. A combination of changes in the ribonucleic acid of the virus can give birth to a new variant. Currently, it takes over two-three months to get test results of genome sequencing which delays the epidemiological study of the mutated virus in infected patients. With the starting of the laboratory, the results of 380 samples will be available within three-four days.

Dr Jayanti Shastri, in-charge of the molecular diagnostic reference laboratory of the hospital, said, “These tests have three phases—library presentation which in simple form is called pre-sequencing preparation, which takes two-three days. Then we do the sequencing of the samples in the machine that generally takes 4-5 hours. In the third stage, we do analysis of the results to understand the variations.”

Genome sequencing is not a diagnostic tool, so suspected Covid-19 patients will have to mandatorily undergo RT-PCR tests for diagnosis. “Unlike RT-PCR, which is a target-based testing, sequencing helps identify unknown pathogens. This will help understand the genetic coding of viruses,” she said.

The samples will be collected through the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from international passengers, Covid-19 hot spots, places with high transmission rate, among others.

Genome sequencing can also provide better diagnosis among patients showing unusual clinical presentations. “For instance, if a patient is negative for Covid-19, but symptoms indicate the presence of Sars-Cov-2, then sequencing can help us understand the nucleotides,” she added.

The machines have been procured through donations that cumulatively cost around ₹10.5 crore.A US-based company has donated ₹6.4 crore, while Mumbai-based ATE Chandra Foundation has donated ₹4 crore for the machine.

“An alumnus from our college (BYL Nair hospital) is the reason why we got support from the US company. He facilitated the talks and convinced them to donate,” she said.

HT had reported earlier that due to Covid-19 restrictions in international cargo ferrying, the hospital had to wait for months to get the machine from Chicago.

“This (genome sequencing) will be a great help in understanding and researching on the new virus Sars-Cov-2. It may give some hidden keys to the puzzles of the virus which may help us plan better,” she added.

Since the outbreak of the second wave in the middle of February, three patients with Delta plus variants have been identified. All of them have recovered from the infection. Hindustan Times