Nat’l Reference Lab now able to test for Zika Virus

Jan 06, 2017 News

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– Public Health Minister

Despite battling for just about one year to combat the Zika Virus, the local public health

sector was only two weeks ago able to boost its capacity enough to commence testing for the virus independently. This disclosure was made last week by former Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton.
Although Dr. Norton was recently re-assigned responsibility for Social Cohesion, he was the Senior Minister of Public Health, and as recent as last Friday he was tasked with enlightening media operatives about the challenges and achievements of that Ministry during the past year at an end-of-year press conference.
Dr. Norton had been asked on that occasion whether the capacity of the National Reference Laboratory has been boosted so that there is less reliance on the Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).
CARPHA was established in July 2011 by an Inter-Governmental Agreement signed by Caricom Member States. It, however, became operational in January 2013 and essentially became the single regional public health agency for the Caribbean, even combining the functions of five Caribbean Regional Health Institutes. The five agencies are: the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute, the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre, the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute, the Caribbean Health Research Council and the Caribbean Regional Drug Testing Laboratory.
But with several territories, including Guyana, relying on the expertise of CARPHA, the number of blood samples sent for testing during the past year became increasingly limited, particularly with outbreaks such as the Zika Virus.
However, Guyana had in place, since 2008, a National Reference Laboratory. The laboratory, although furnished with state-of-the-art equipment, was void of expertise to conduct needed tests. Moreover, Minister Norton disclosed that with the outbreak of the Zika Virus, Guyana was given support to have two local personnel trained at CARPHA.
“We have had persons trained. The ability of the National Reference Lab has been much improved and we hope to continue improving,” said Dr. Norton, as he insisted that the reliance on CARPHA would undeniably be less.
But he recognised that this accomplishment was not without some challenges as, according to him, even after training of the personnel the lab was not ready to conduct tests independently. This was in light of the fact that its equipment had to be recalibrated by experts who had to visit from CARPHA. However, after the recalibration was completed, it was found that reagents for testing were not available.
“Fortunately the reagents are now available and about two weeks ago we started testing for Zika,” Minister Norton divulged.
Using the lab to test for the Zika Virus is currently a major priority, according to Minister Norton. The Zika Virus became a major public health threat last year. During the past year Guyana recorded a total of 35 laboratory-confirmed cases.
The Zika virus is spread by infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that bite throughout the day into the evening and at nights. They are able to breed around homes, especially in collections of fresh water such as open black tanks, tyres, roof guttering, plant containers and other vessels.
The outbreak prompted the Ministry to issue an advisory placing the nation on alert for the virus. It was revealed, too, that while most people who contract the virus may not manifest any signs or symptoms, pregnant women in particular should protect themselves from the bites of the mosquitoes since the virus was linked to birth defects.
Citizens were therefore urged to prevent mosquito bites by wearing light-coloured clothing that covers the body, arms and legs. They were also encouraged to protect themselves by using insect repellents on exposed body parts and use household insecticide sprays, coils and candles to ward off mosquitoes.
The Ministry of Public Health had advised persons to check with the nearest health facility if they, or a family member or friend, develop a fever or any other Zika symptoms including joint or muscle pains or headache.
In addition to the Zika virus and dengue fever, the Aedes mosquito can also transmit the Chikungunya virus. A total of 842 cases of dengue fever were confirmed during the past year and 135 cases of the Chikungunya virus were recorded.
The Ministry of Public Health was forced to tackle an outbreak of Chikungunya in 2015 but, according to Minister Norton, currently “Chikungunya is not a threat as much as it used to be… as you know it is a viral infection, but whenever it shows up we know it is there, because of the severity of the symptoms which it presents”.

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