PCR tests for amoebic fever now at Kozhikode MCH’s microbiology lab

The microbiology lab at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, has been equipped with facilities to conduct PCR tests to check the presence of Naegleria fowleri, Acanthamoeba spp., and Balamuthia mandrillaris, the free-living amoebae causing the deadly amoebic meningoencephalitis.

The microbiology lab used to conduct only microscopic tests to check their presence in the cerebrospinal fluid samples collected from patients. Treatment used to get started even before identifying the particular species of amoeba. The samples then had to be sent either to the State Public Health Laboratory at Thiruvananthapuram or the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, Punjab, for confirmatory tests. This, however, was a time-consuming process. Now, these tests to confirm the presence of the amoeba and species identification can be conducted here itself.