A new testing and research facility will come up at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) in March to help detect 21 respiratory viruses.

Sources in the NBMCH at Sushrutanagar on the outskirts of Siliguri — the largest state-run referral hospital in north Bengal — said the facility would be set up in association with the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED).

Among the respiratory viruses which can be detected at the new facility are influenza A and B, para-influenza and its variants, adenovirus, enterovirus, H1N1, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (A+B), norovirus, varicella zoster virus (VZV), rotavirus, astrovirus and human metapneumovirus, sources said.

“It would be a state-of-the-art facility to help detect as many as 21 different respiratory viruses from swab samples. So far, we had to send the samples to the NICED (Calcutta) for confirmatory tests. It was a cumbersome process as we had to ensure that the samples do not get damaged during transport and it also took time to get the test reports,” said a doctor at the microbiology department of NBMCH where the facility will come up.

Usually, it would take three to four days to get the test report of samples from the NICED, sources said.

By next month, necessary equipment for the facility will reach the NBMCH as the tender process to procure those is complete, said Arunava

Sarkar, head of the microbiology department and principal investigator of the virus research diagnostic laboratory (VRDL).

In March 2020, when the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country, the VRDL lab was established at the NBMCH. So far, over 6.26 lakh samples have been tested at the lab, the highest in any lab across Bengal.

“We believe testing samples to detect viruses will soon commence here,” said Sarkar. “Now time can be saved and doctors can start the treatment earlier,” he added.

As of now, the VRDL can detect Covid variants and some other viruses. Also, tests for Hepatitis B and C have recently started at the NBMCH, said sources.