PGIMER Virology Department becomes Apex Referral laboratory

Chandigarh, Feb 25 (UNI) Department of Virology, PGIMER, Chandigarh has been identified as one of the Apex Referral laboratory for the advanced diagnosis of Dengue, Japanese encephalitis, Chikungunya and other vector borne viral diseases in India.

The frequent reappearance of these diseases in larger proportions was the basis of establishing the Apex Reference Laboratory with state-of-the-art facilities in this region.

Under this programme, the virology department, besides advanced diagnosis, will be conducting hands on training for the laboratory diagnosis of these diseases from tomorrow.

Sentinel surveillance hospitals belonging to the states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Union Territory, Chandigarh will be participating in the programme, a PGIMER statement said here yesterday.

This laboratory will provide rapid diagnosis at the time of epidemic situations in this region. Continuous surveillance activity on the vector borne viral diseases in the states by the trained personnel will help the region with the expert support of the reference laboratories, it said.

UNI