Inconsistency in sample collection, testing and result to identify suspected coronavirus infected patients has arisen across the country.
Some collectors asked the suspected patients to bring saliva by themselves. On the other hand, many health workers who do not have proper training, collected spit instead of saliva, sources said.
Besides, urine collection tubes have been sent to collection centers at different parts of the country for collection of samples due to lack of supervision in these matters.
As a result, false negative or false positive outcome shown frequently in testing results which will deteriorate country’s Covid-19 situation, experts envisaged.
Moreover, authorities did not do contract tracing of most of the infected patients despite community transmission of the virus have found in almost all parts of the country.
After showing symptoms, a bank official who died on April 26 tested Covid-19 not once, but twice, and the results were negative.
Later, when he was seriously ill, tested again. After his death, he was found Covid-19 positive.
Medical technologist Gautam Andro, who works in Habiganj, told that he was working as the only technologist in the entire district.
Gautam said EPI workers were collecting samples there but they were collecting spit from the mouth of patients due to lack of proper training. As a result, accurate results are not available in the test.
Due to lack of necessary manpower, suspicious patients are not able to give samples even after waiting for 10 days.
In this regard, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Administration) Habibur Rahman Khan told the media that he had not received any such complaint.
However, if specific allegations are found, he will instruct the concerned to take proper action.
Meanwhile, in the last few days, 72 samples were collected and tested in Kushtia and Jessore on suspicion of corona. Of these, 34 reported positive. This spread panic in the whole area. After finding some errors in the report, samples were collected again and sent to IEDCR in Dhaka for testing. It was found that only 30 of them had corona negative.
Our Chuadanga correspondent informed that a kidney patient from Begumpur village of Chuadanga Sadar Upazila was undergoing treatment at Chuadanga Sadar Hospital from April 6 to 10. Later, he went to Dhaka and tested positive of coronavirus infection.
After informing the matter, samples were collected from 21 people including 11 doctors and nurses of the medicine ward of the hospital and sent to the lab of Jessore University of Science and Technology on April 22.
On April 23, 6 out of those 21 samples tested positive.
Assistant Professor of Virology departemt of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Zahidur Rahman said, “I know of at least 5 Covid-19 positive patients who have not been asked about contact tracing except reporting from IEDCR.”
The most alarming thing is that many people are not being given any kind of report or SMS, only being informed over the phone. It takes 3-4 days to give a single report. In these days, they are infecting many others.
Meanwhile, although the Suhrawardy Hospital has been specified for the coronavirus test, the test is closed now.
Director of the hospital Prof Dr Uttam Kumar Barua said, “All of us who were associated with the test have been affected. We will start again as soon as they recover.”
He said, “The testing facilities should definitely be increased. Many people do not get IEDCR hotline available. The testing centers are also found very crowded. Samples should be collected and tested at the Central Laboratory. New centers should be insralled.”
It has also known that IEDCR gave tarining to vaulentary workers and medical officers through video conference. Therefore, question arises wheather the sample colletctors have proper practical training or not.
In this regard, the Additional Director General of the DGHS Prof Dr Nasima Sultana told Bangladesh Post, “Some technical problems may occur in laboratoy. Sometimes machines can give wrong information. So it is not a deliberate mistake or a lack of taraining.”
In this context, the former Vice Chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Prof. Kamrul Hasan Khan told Bangladesh Post, “Proper monitoring is being done for samples collection in rifght way, PCR (polymer chain re-action) machines operation and so on. Accurate results cannot be obtained if samples are not collected properly.”
He advised to strictly supervise these matters.