CBNAAT machine shortage delays treatment in Karnataka's RGICD

The shortage of CBNAAT machines at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) has resulted in long waiting time for tuberculosis diagnosis for many patients.

The hospital, which is the state’s tertiary public facility for chest diseases, has only one CBNAAT machine that can process 16 samples in a day. Whereas every day 50-60 persons suspected of having TB need to get their samples tested here.

“We currently have a four-module CBNAAT machine (which can process four samples at a time). The machine is run four times daily, so a total of 16 samples are processed,” says RGICD director Dr Nagaraja C.

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CBNAAT machines take only two hours to process a sample. So if sufficient machines are available, patients should be able to get their reports and start treatment the same day.

From far-off places

But currently, lab reports lag by 1-2 weeks, and patients have to come to the hospital again.

This is more difficult for patients from other districts and states. The hospital gets close to 250 patients a day from across the country, and sometimes abroad.

In addition to detecting TB, CBNAAT machines can also identify if the person has drug-resistant TB. This is a major improvement over smear microscopy that was used for testing till 3-4 years ago, says Nagaraja.

However, given the delays in testing, the institute had asked the state government for a 16-module CBNAAT machine (that can process 16 samples at a time). But it has not got the approval so far.

“If we run the 16-module machine four times a day, we can process 64 samples. That will be sufficient to cover all patients the same day,” Nagaraja said.

Currently, the institute tries to reduce its testing backlog by sending some samples to other hospitals with CBNAAT machines, such as Victoria.

Yet 30-50% of the samples remain as backlog at a time, said another doctor at the hospital.