Central institution in Bengal out of funds for swine flu tests

Kolkata, March 13 (IANS) The National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases here which is handling around 50 to 60 suspect samples of swine flu every day has run out of funds to procure necessary chemicals for the HINI virus test, a scientist said on Friday.

"We actually had run out of all the funds and we are trying to get funds from everywhere. We have sent a request to the West Bengal government also," the scientist in charge of the tests at the central agency told IANS.

With the death toll at 18 and 274 number of positive cases recorded so far in Bengal, the lack of funds are expected to hinder the testing process since apart from NICED (an Indian Council of Medical Research centre), two private hospitals are the only other official testing centres in the flu-hit state.

The Institute, in the last two months, has examined around 900 samples for free. It has also examined six samples from Mizoram, the expert said, adding there aren't enough funds to purchase the reagents for the test.

NICED's mandate is to perform research and develops strategies for treatment, prevention and control of enteric infections and HIV/AIDS.

However, with the flu cases on the rise in Bengal, the scientists are hard-pressed for time to carry out any studies.

"We are busy with the tests. We are trying our best to do as much as we can to handle the increasing cases and have no time for research on the samples,a the scientist said.