Nayanika Das Gupta

The father of a five-and-a-half-year-old girl has written to the state health department alleging that one of the two diagnostic centres that tested his daughter’s blood samples for dengue within 24 hours of each other had given a false report.

Diagnosis & Cure Centre, on Gariahat Road (South), stated that Nayanika Das Gupta had tested positive for dengue. But a fresh test at NG Medicare and Hope Infertility Clinic, on Rashbehari Avenue, the next day proved negative.

Nayanika’s father Nabendu wants the government to find out which report was false and take action against the laboratory. Both centres, however, claimed their reports were correct.

The Dhakuria resident had fever last Tuesday. “A doctor advised blood tests for dengue and malaria,” said Nabendu.

Last Thursday, Nabendu took the girl to Diagnosis & Cure Centre for the tests. The malaria report was negative, but the Elisa test for IgM (recent infection) and IgG (past infection) revealed dengue antibodies in the blood samples.

“The doctor, however, was surprised as the girl did not have any symptoms of dengue, such as rashes, nausea and headache,” recalled Nabendu. The doctor asked the family to get a fresh test done at another laboratory the next day. Both the IgM and IgG tests at NG Medicare on Friday were negative. The fever subsided on Saturday.

The reports of NG Medicare (top) and Diagnosis and Cure Centre

“It needs to be found out how two tests done in two laboratories within 24 hours can be so different,” Das Gupta has written to Sanchita Bakshi, the director of health services. “I want action to be taken against the laboratory that gave the false report.”

“We will probe the complaint,” said Bakshi. “Diagnostic centres are required to have qualified personnel.”

Experts pointed out there were no guidelines for the laboratories to use quality equipment. “Elisa kits procured from different companies can give different results,” said an immunologist at the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Both laboratories claimed their results were correct. “We had asked a laboratory on Shakespeare Sarani, with whom we have a tie-up, to do a repeat test. The second test, too, was positive,” said Manoranjan Saha, of Diagnosis & Cure Centre. “We follow the parameters laid down by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories. Our tests are confirmatory,” said Sayed M. Nadeem, of NG Medicare.