TB detection mobile van takes 16 samples

Tribune News Service

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Bathinda, September 19

To provide diagnosis and treatment facilities to people living in far-off villages and in the city, a mobile van equipped with cartridge based nucleic acid amplification test (CB-NAAT) machine to detect tuberculosis (TB) patients started in the district this week. The mobile van started moving around in different parts of the district on Monday and 16 samples have been collected so far.

Talking to The Tribune, Dr Rosy Aggarwal, district TB officer, said, “Out of the 16 samples collected from different parts of the district, three samples have been found positive. The mobile van has covered areas such as Dhobiana Basti, Beant Nagar, Sangat Mandi and a few other parts of the city. As part of intensive field activity, after diagnosis, we immediately start treatment of the patient.”

Dr Aggarwal added, “Through the CB-NAAT technology, the presence of bacteria can be screened more easily and with more precision even if the presence of bacteria is lower in per 1ml of sputum. The idea behind the mobile van is to provide diagnosis and treatment to TB patients to whom medical services are not easily accessible and to find case where TB patients remain undiagnosed owing to lack of awareness and their low socio-economic status.”

She said the mobile van would stay in the district till Saturday before moving to other districts in the state. Later, the mobile van would repeat its cycle in three months.