New Delhi: Days after Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), claimed of developing a “Saline Gargle RT-PCR Method” for testing Covid-19 samples, researchers and doctors from India’s prestigious All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) have made a counterclaim saying they have proposed and developed similar “Gargle Lavage Technique” one year ago but there was no acknowledgment from the Union Health Ministry.
“AIIMS doctors proposed and developed Gargle Lavage Technique one year ago but there was no acknowledgment from Dr Harsh Vardhan and ICMR. It’s wrong that NEERI is presenting it without giving due credits. Young resident doctors of AIIMS must be given credit for the technique,” said Dr Amandeep Singh, president of Resident Doctors Association (RDA-AIIMS).
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The AIIMS resident doctors claimed that their researchers had the first insight to collect samples for Covid-19 diagnosis in the form of ‘gargle saline water.’ To investigate whether it works or not, they contained both nasal swabs and saline gargle water from 50 patients who were confirmed positive for Coronavirus.
“Both nasal swab and saline gargle water gave 100 percent similar results. Even the viral load was almost identical in samples obtained by the two methods. However, this did not get much attention despite having the potential to revolutionize India’s testing strategy for Covid19,” the AIIMS RDA said.
Significantly, in June last year, the AIIMS team presented the research paper to ICMR. Based on the inputs, the same group of researchers embarked upon another study to evaluate the stability of viral genetic material in normal saline for extended periods. AIIMS had submitted a follow-up research paper in October 2020.
It may be mentioned here that NEERI operates under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Following the discovery of the “gargle method” by NEERI, Science and Technology Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan termed the innovation to be a game-changer.
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“The ‘Saline Gargle RT PCR Test’ developed by NEERI shall increase ease and speed of Covid-19 testing in the country. This swab-free, non-invasive testing mechanism could prove to be a game-changer,” Dr Vardhan has said.
NEERI’s senior scientist, Environmental Virology Cell Dr Krishna Khairnar said that there is a major difference between the research done by AIIMS and NEERI.
The difference between the AIIMS method and NEERI’s is that NEERI uses a heating method to eliminate the use of an RNA extraction kit, whereas the AIIMS method requires the RNA extraction kit.
NEERI further claims that its Saline Gargle technique has been developed using Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS).
