JOIN USHIV patients can heave a sigh of relief as the tuberculosis diagnosis test results, which would usually take three to six months to be out, will now be declared in just 90 minutes with the help of a new technology at the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital.
The new Cartridge-Based Nucleic Acid Amplification (CBNAAT) test will make this possible. Speaking at the inauguration on Tuesday, Sharan Prakash Patil, Medical Education minister, said: “Earlier, patients had to wait anywhere between three to six months for the results.
This is risky as the possibility of the infected person being in contact with a healthy person and spreading the disease is high. Now, with the results out in just 90 minutes, patients can be put on treatment soon after.”
The new technology has been installed at a cost of Rs 16 lakh under the Union government’s CRS scheme. The test would cost Rs 1,500 at private diagnostic centres and will be provided free of cost at Bowring Hospital. It will also be made available in 30 places across the country, he added.
The HIV infected persons are more prone to tuberculosis. In Karnataka alone, 13,576 persons were tested positive and 5,653 are undergoing treatment. A total of 60,772 HIV positive cases were reported in the State last year.
World TB Day
A procession was organised to observe World TB Day at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases. A CD titled “Kshaya Bandare Bidu Bhaya” (Don’t fear if you contract TB), made by Adugodi Srinivas was also released. Nursing students enacted a skit to create awareness on early diagnosis and regular treatment of tuberculosis, etc.
Information minister Roshan Baig said that pharmacies at Victoria and Bowring hospitals would soon be upgraded to generic ones.
DH News Service