A SPECIALIST, Dr. Lucy Perrone, from the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States (U.S.) has arrived in Guyana and training of six medical technologists to test for the H1N1 virus got underway Monday.

Through January 20, the technologists will be trained at the National Public Health Reference Laboratory (NPHRL) to conduct real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RRT-PCR) testing for the diseases.

Director of NPHRL, Dr. Colin Roach said the knowledge gained by the trainees will enable them to utilise it for a range of other tests, including novel influenza mutations and more emerging diseases.

Guyana recently acquired $8M worth of equipment to boost local capacity in response to H1N1 and it was installed and calibrated by consultants from the overseas based supplier, Applied Bio-Systems.

Roach said the acquisition was by Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).

A statement explained that samples (nasopharyngeal swabs) will be collected, as usual and placed in viral transport media but, instead of being sent to the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC, they will go to the NPHRL, where medical technologists in the Molecular Biology Department will do manual extraction, using specific re-agent kits and accessories designed for the purpose.

Once the sample is extracted, further re-agents will be added and it will be loaded onto the AB StepOnePlus system, to be reverse transcribed and amplified, using specific primers and probes for H1N1.

“If H1N1 is present in the sample, this will allow for it to be detected in real time, allowing for a diagnosis to be made,” the NPHRL statement explained.

Roach confirmed that local testing is expected to commence soon.

He said, along with the training provided, the CDC is also expected to supply Guyana with re-agents for H1N1 tests.

OPTIMISM
Roach expressed optimism after the first day of training saw discussions surrounding surveillance, sample flow and collection as well as bio-safety.

He said, during the time the CDC will be collaborating with NPHRL, efforts will be made to maintain quality assurance and the laboratory here will be partnering with CAREC, in Trinidad, to have the same samples tested in this country sent to CAREC.

That way, Roach said, quality will be assured and Guyana will be on par with international standards.

Roach said the process is likely to continue for approximately two weeks after which Guyana will be in a position to handle by itself local testing for the H1N1 virus.

Meanwhile, the number of Guyanese confirmed as affected by the H1N1 virus has increased from 27 to 29.

Statistics from the Health Ministry reveal that a total of 1,435 cases of the novel influenza strain has been confirmed across the Caribbean Region with 19 deaths in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Suriname.

Additionally, approximately 75,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccines are expected sometime around January 15 and, until then, the Ministry is encouraging persons to continue practicing good hygiene.