Lacen-PA is prepared for sample analysis at mass events
New analysis methodologies have been adopted to expedite laboratory diagnosis of various diseases
The State Central Laboratory (Lacen-PA) is prepared for rapid responses at mass events held in Pará. This information was provided on Monday (6) by the director of Lacen-PA, Alberto Júnior, during the Laboratory Surveillance Preparation Workshop for Mass Events, held at the institution's auditorium.
The workshop aimed to present laboratory workflows as a strategy to strengthen the State Laboratory Surveillance Network of Pará during events that gather large crowds, such as the Círio de Nazaré and international meetings. It had 100 participants from Health Surveillance professionals in the municipality of Belém and health establishments in the Metropolitan Region of Belém.
In addition to 18 training sessions over the past two years focused on mass events, Lacen-PA has acquired special kits that perform sample analyses more quickly, speeding up laboratory diagnosis of various diseases.
Thus, Alberto Júnior believes that Lacen-PA is ready for mass events. "We had a significant investment from the federal government for equipment acquisition and from the state government for the acquisition of supplies. We also adopted new methodologies to reduce the turnaround time for results. So, Lacen-PA is indeed prepared to receive and analyze Health Surveillance samples that come from the Metropolitan Region of Belém during these large events.
The technical director of Lacen-PA, Valnete Andrade, presented to the workshop participants the work process to fulfill all points of the "Laboratories" item of the Health checklist for Mass Events, developed in 2012 and validated in Brazil, which was applied during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the 2015 World Indigenous Peoples Games, and the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Investment - According to Valnete Andrade, during the events, Lacen-PA will use Multiplex Syndromic Panels for rapid diagnosis, which allow the detection of multiple pathogens simultaneously from a single sample via PCR. "So, we have panels for respiratory infections, gastrointestinal infections, and meningitis," stated the technical director.
With this, Lacen-PA expects that analysis results will be issued within 70 to 90 minutes; real-time detection of major infections during events; rapid support for control and containment actions of outbreaks, improvement of local Epidemiological Surveillance, and strengthening the diagnostic capacity of Lacen-PA.
To give an idea of the advancement in the analysis process, the respiratory panel can analyze, at once, 21 viruses and three bacteria, such as SARS-CoV-2, Influenza, various types of Coronaviruses, among others. The gastrointestinal panel can analyze 13 bacteria, 5 viruses, and 4 parasites, and the meningitis panel can analyze 8 bacteria, 6 viruses, and 1 fungus.
In addition to these, Lacen-PA is implementing PCR analysis of samples suspected of outbreaks of Water and Foodborne Diseases (DTHA) for analysis of rotavirus and norovirus and q-PCR analysis of 9 arboviruses simultaneously (dengue - 4 serotypes), zika, chikungunya, mayaro, oropouche, and yellow fever), reducing the analysis time from 15 hours to just 1 hour and 20 minutes, as the previous method required analysis in three rounds and this new one only in one.
Opening Ceremony - In addition to Alberto Júnior and Valnete Andrade, the opening ceremony of the workshop was attended by the director of Health Surveillance of the State Health Department (Sespa), Rosiana Nobre, and the technical director of Sespa, Carla Figueiredo, representing the deputy secretary of Health Policy Management, Heloísa Guimarães.
Rosiana Nobre reminded that Lacen-PA is a Health Surveillance Laboratory that has the expertise to make accurate diagnoses of the samples sent to it. "There are several health issues, and we know that during these large events, we can count on this Laboratory team on standby to respond efficiently and quickly to any health issue that may arise. Because, in addition to a team of specialized professionals, Lacen has high-tech equipment and kits for the immediate diagnosis of various diseases," she commented.
The technical director of Sespa, Carla Figueiredo, stated that in the area of public health, Pará is delivering what it has built over the past years in preparation for mass events. "We have confidence in the team and in strengthening Health Surveillance because everything is the result of joint work between the Ministry of Health, Sespa, and Municipal Health Secretariats in the Metropolitan Region of Belém," she concluded.
