Microbiology Division

 

ROUTINE ACTIVITIES

1. Laboratory based surveillance of diseases like Poliomyelitis, Cholera,Diphtheria, Tuberculosis, Pyogenic meningitis, Viral Hepatitis, and Yaws.

2. Laboratory support to Polio Eradication Programme. The Division is the WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for Poliomyelitis. It is involved in: (a) Potency testing of field samples of OPV, and (b) Laboratory based surveillance of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP). Stool specimens from suspected cases of AFP received from different hospitals of Delhi and also from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal processed for polio virus isolation followed by intratypic differentiation using ELISA probe hybridization procedures.

3. Monitoring the drug resistance of some important bacterial pathogens like Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella species,Mycobacterium tuberculosis (using conventional and BACTEC culture system), C. diphtheriae, and Shigella sp.

4. Provision of referral services for identification and characterization of different bacterial, viral and fungal isolates eg V.cholerae, Salmonella, Mycobacteria, Enteroviruses, Meningococcus, Corynebacterium diphtheriae etc.

5. Provision of diagnostic referral services for diseases like Viral hepatitis (serology by ELISA), tuberculosis (culture, serology, drug sensitivity test and PCR), Cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases, Diphtheria, Pyogenic meningitis, Teratogenic infections, Measles, Enteroviruses, and SSPE.

6. Monitoring the quality of drinking water. The activities include (a) water bacteriology, (b) testing of drinking water samples for microbiological safety, (c) laboratory support to investigation of outbreaks of water borne diseases, and (d) development of rapid test kits for water testing (eg H2S-Strip test).

7. Maintenance of different Cell Lines Hep-2, RD, L20B, VERO, MDCK-2 used for Entero and Respiratory viruses are maintained and supplied to different laboratories on demand.

8. Storage and supply of diagnostic reagents. Reagents like FBS, tissue culture plates, etc. are stored and supplied to different laboratories engaged in OPV testing.

9. Storage and supply of vaccines Meningococcal meningitis vaccine meant for Haj pilgrims is stored and supplied to different States of the country.

10. Preservation of standard strains of V.cholerae O1, VC 0139, EHEC, ETEC, Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Bacteroides fragilis, Clostridium difficile, Mycobacterium, etc. which are supplied to various Institutes on demand.

11. Evaluation of diagnostic reagents Various diagnostic kits (both imported and indigenous) meant for diagnosis of Viral hepatitis and Tuberculosis are evaluated under instructions from DCG(I).

OUTBREAK INVESTIGATION

Microbiology Division provides laboratory support during investigation of outbreaks/epidemics of various communicable diseases eg. Cholera, Viral Hepatitis, Diphtheria, etc. The outbreaks investigated in the last 2 years are:

1. Outbreak of febrile encephalopathy in Siliguri (W.B.) in year 2000 : Samples like CSF, urine, serum, throat swabs etc. were processed for isolation and serological diagnosis of various suspected pathogens e.g. measles, legionella, and mycoplasma.

2. Measles outbreak in Gonda district, U.P. during year 2000.

3. Outbreaks of Jaundice:

   location	year	no. of sera tested	aetiology
   Tihar Jail, Delhi	1999	11	HEV*
   Prahladpur, Delhi	1999	6	HEV*
   Jammu	1999	10	HEV*
   Bhubaneshwar	1999	10	HAV*
   Faridabad (Haryana)	1999	4	HEV*
   Haridwar (U.P.)	2000	4	HEV*
   Central Jail Hospital,	2000	7	HBV & HEV*
   Faridabad (Haryana)	2000	18	HEV*
   Raj Nagar, Palampur	2000	7	HEV*
   Bhuj (Gujarat)	2000	26	HEV & HAV*
   Central Store, Delhi	2000	20	HEV*
   Bhiwani	2000	20	HAV*
   * HAV = Hepatitis A Virus, HBV = Hepatitis B Virus, HEV = Hepatitis E Virus

   
   

4. Outbreaks of Cholera:

   location	year	no. of samples	aetiology
   Kasturba Gandhi Hospital	1999	60	VC 01*
   S.P.Med.College, Bikaner	1999	24	VC 01*
   Orissa Cyclone outbreak	1999	9	VC 01*
   Rajahmundry	2000	16	VC 01*
   Ranga Reddy Distt.	2000	16	VC 01*
   Muzzafarpur (Bihar)	2000	6	VC 01*
   Shahpurjat Cholera	2000	33	VC 01, VC 0139*
   IIT Campus Cholera	2000	22	VC 01, VC 0139*
   Delhi - Garhi/Lajpat Ngr.	2000	34	VC 0139*
   - Lampur		104	VC 0139*
   - Siraspur Badli		7	VC 01*

   * VC 01 = Vibrio cholerae 01, VC 0139 = Vibrio cholerae 0139

Field Laboratory in earthquake affected area in Bhuj, Gujarat was set up (Feb 2001 to April 2001) to carry out surveillance of epidemic prone communicable diseases.

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

The following major research activities are being pursued in the division :

1. Multicentric study to determine the prevalence of Hepatitis B and C in the community. Filter paper strips and serum samples of adults and children were tested for HBsAg, Anti HBc and Anti HCV under the project to find out the association between injections and transmission of HBV and HCV.

2. Operational research to look for the initial and acquired drug resistance in pulmonary tuberculosis in Delhi.

3. To look for opportunistic bacterial fungal and parasitic agents in cases of AIDS and other immunocompromising conditions.

4. Efforts are underway to standardize the PCR assay for early diagnosis of Tuberculosis, Cholera and Viral hepatitis B and C.

5. Genetic sequencing in collaboration with biotechnology division of the Institute is being carried out in isolates/clinical samples from cases of Poliomyelitis, Viral Hepatitis B, Viral Hepatitis C, Cholera and Tuberculosis.

6. Multicentric R & D study on “Refinement of H2S-Strip test for safe drinking water supply in Rural areas”. The study in two phases was sponsored by the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking water Mission (RGNDWM) and the UNICEF.

7. Viral Hepatitis Laboratory is involved in : (a) Screening of HBsAg in ITBP force, (b) Detection of Anti HBs antibodies in Thalassemic children from G.T.B. Hospital, (c) Monitoring of seroconversion after Hepatitis B vaccination of laboratory staff of NICD, and (d) Screening of HBsAg in workers of Missionaries of Charity.

8. Enteropathogen Laboratory is involved in : (a) Molecular epidemiological study of V.cholerae O1 and 0139 strains by PCR and other genetic techniques, (b) Facilities for detection of virulence genes, Cholera toxin of VC 01, VC 0139 by PCR (Ctx A 301 bp), (c) Detection of VC 01, and VC 0139 by PCR in direct stool samples, and (d) Facilities and on-going research for determing any variation in nucleotide sequence of Ctx A region by genomic sequencing on Robotic Catalyst 800.

 

PUBLICATIONS

Jagvir Singh, S.Gupta et al. "A severe and explosive outbreak of Hepatitis B in a rural population in the District Sirsa, Haryana (India): Unnecessary therapeutic injections were a major risk factor". Epidemiology and Infection (2000), 125, 693-699.

A.Maheshwari, H.L. Gupta, Sunil Gupta, R.Bhatia and K.K. Datta. "Diagnostic utility of estimation of mycobacterial antigen A60 specific antibodies in serum and CSF in cases of adult Neurotuberculosis". Journal of Communicable Diseases (2000), 32(1), 54-60.

Jagvir Singh, N. Shakya, D.C. Jain, R.Bhatia, D.Bora, P.K. Pattanayak, S.Gupta et al. "A survey on community perceptions of Jaundice in East Delhi: Implications for the prevention and control of viral hepatitis". Transactions of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (2000), 94, 243-246.

"Disease Surveillance at District Level: A Laboratory Manual", (1998). Ed : Rajesh Bhatia, Shashi Khare, Sunil Gupta and K.V.Chandrashekara.

 

TRAINING ACTIVITIES:

The division is involved throughout the year in conducting various laboratory based training programmes for medical and paramedical personnel coming from all over the country, and abroad.

1. WHO assisted training courses on antimicrobial resistance monitoring for middle level microbiologists were conducted (1999-2000) :

   * During January 1999 at Institute of Medical Sciences at BHU, Varanasi.

   * From 8th to 12th Feb., 1999 at Defence Research and Development Establishment at Gwalior (M.P.).

   * From 22nd to 26th March, 1999 at National Institute of Cholera and other Enteric Diseases at Calcutta.

   * During April, 1999 at State Public Health Laboratory, Pune.

2. WHO assisted training courses in basic microbiological techniques for district level laboratory technicians were conducted (1999-2000) :

   1. State Public Health Lab, Pune from 28th Dec., 98 to 1st Jan.,1999.

   2. RNT Medical College, Udaipur from 4th to 6th Jan., 1999.

   3. JIPMER, Pondicherry from 1st to 5th Feb., 1999.

   4. Institute of Preventive Medicine, Hyderabad from 1st to 5th , ’99.

   5. Regional Institute of Medicine, Imphal from 2-6 Feb., 99.

   6. Institute of Medicine, BHU, Varanasi from 15-19 Feb., 99.

   7. State Public Health Laboratory, Pune from 21-25 June, 99.

   8. RNT Medical College, Udaipur.

   9. JIPMER, Pondicherry from 12-16 July, 99.

   10. Regional Institute of Medicine, Imphal from 15-19 Sept., 99.

   11. Institute of Medicine, BHU, Varanasi from 24-28 Aug., 99.

   12. NICD Bangalore Branch from 20-24 Sept., 99.

   13. NICD Bangalore Branch from 27 Sept., to 1st Oct., 99.

   14. Govt. Medical College, Jammu from 14-18 Sept., 99.

   15. Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla 14-18 Sept., 99.

   16. State Public Health Laboratory, Karnal from 11-15 Oct., 99.

3. Other training programmes

   • WHO assisted training course on laboratory based surveillance of meningococcal meningitis, 5-8 Sept., 2000, NICD, Delhi.

   • WHO assisted workshop on Quality Assurance Programme for microbiology laboratories, 10-12 Oct., 2000.

   • WHO assisted workshop on “Quality Assurance Programme for Microbiology Laboratories” meant for middle level microbiologists held 21-23 August, 2001.

   • WHO assisted Training course on Laboratory Diagnosis Of Common Childhood Infections, with special emphasis on Acute Bacterial Respiratory Infections from 17-21 September, 2001.

4. Training of WHO Fellows

   • Two Fellows from WHO, Dr. S.D. Atukorala and Mrs. Rupasena from SriLanka visited the Division for training in Antimicrobial Drug Resistance from11-15 Oct., 1999.

   • Dr. Imtiaz Chowdhury, WHO fellow from Bangladesh, visited the Tuberculosis Laboratory of the Division for a period of 3 weeks from 14.05.2001.

   • Dr Nirmala Amplavarkar,WHO fellow from Malaysia visited this division for training in Surveillance of Cholera from 17 to 28 september 2001