Challenges in the establishment of a biosafety testing laboratory for COVID-19 in Bangladesh
At the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Bangladesh, there was a scarcity of ideal biocontainment facilities to detect the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a risk group of 3 organisms. Molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 must be performed in...
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The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Infection in Developing Countries |
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| Online Access: | https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/14415 |
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| author | SM Rashed Ul Islam Tahmina Akther Sharmin Sultana Paroma Deb Asish Kumar Ghosh Md. Abdullah Omar Nasif Amirul Huda Bhuiyan Munira Jahan Afzalun Nessa Saif Ullah Munshi Shahina Tabassum |
| author_facet | SM Rashed Ul Islam Tahmina Akther Sharmin Sultana Paroma Deb Asish Kumar Ghosh Md. Abdullah Omar Nasif Amirul Huda Bhuiyan Munira Jahan Afzalun Nessa Saif Ullah Munshi Shahina Tabassum |
| author_sort | SM Rashed Ul Islam |
| collection | DOAJ |
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At the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Bangladesh, there was a scarcity of ideal biocontainment facilities to detect the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a risk group of 3 organisms. Molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 must be performed in a BSL-2 laboratory with BSL-3-equivalent infection prevention and control practices. Establishing these facilities within a short timeframe proved to be an enormous challenge, including locating a remote space distant from the university campus to establish a laboratory, motivating the laboratory staff to work with a novel pathogen without any prior experience, allocation of funds for essential equipment and accessories, and arrangement of a safe waste management system for environmental hazard reduction. This report also highlights several limitations, such as the facility's architectural design that did not follow the biosafety guidelines, lack of continuous flow of funds, and an inadequate number of laboratory personnel. This article describes various efforts taken to overcome the challenges during the establishment of this facility that may be adopted to create similar facilities in other regions of the country. Establishing a BSL-2 laboratory with BSL-3-equivalent infection prevention and control practices will aid in the early detection of a large number of cases, thereby isolating persons with COVID-19, limiting the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and promoting a robust public health response to contain the pandemic.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a007931fd1534cb6ad4e9db99aef51c6 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1972-2680 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Infection in Developing Countries |
| spelling | doaj-art-a007931fd1534cb6ad4e9db99aef51c62025-08-20T02:27:18ZengThe Journal of Infection in Developing CountriesJournal of Infection in Developing Countries1972-26802021-12-01151210.3855/jidc.14415Challenges in the establishment of a biosafety testing laboratory for COVID-19 in BangladeshSM Rashed Ul Islam0Tahmina Akther1Sharmin Sultana2Paroma Deb3Asish Kumar Ghosh4Md. Abdullah Omar Nasif5Amirul Huda Bhuiyan6Munira Jahan7Afzalun Nessa8Saif Ullah Munshi9Shahina Tabassum10Department of Virology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shahbag, Dhaka, BangladeshDepartment of Virology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shahbag, Dhaka, BangladeshDepartment of Virology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shahbag, Dhaka, BangladeshDepartment of Virology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shahbag, Dhaka, BangladeshDepartment of Virology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shahbag, Dhaka, BangladeshDepartment of Virology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shahbag, Dhaka, BangladeshDepartment of Virology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shahbag, Dhaka, BangladeshDepartment of Virology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shahbag, Dhaka, BangladeshDepartment of Virology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shahbag, Dhaka, BangladeshDepartment of Virology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shahbag, Dhaka, BangladeshDepartment of Virology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shahbag, Dhaka, Bangladesh At the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Bangladesh, there was a scarcity of ideal biocontainment facilities to detect the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a risk group of 3 organisms. Molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 must be performed in a BSL-2 laboratory with BSL-3-equivalent infection prevention and control practices. Establishing these facilities within a short timeframe proved to be an enormous challenge, including locating a remote space distant from the university campus to establish a laboratory, motivating the laboratory staff to work with a novel pathogen without any prior experience, allocation of funds for essential equipment and accessories, and arrangement of a safe waste management system for environmental hazard reduction. This report also highlights several limitations, such as the facility's architectural design that did not follow the biosafety guidelines, lack of continuous flow of funds, and an inadequate number of laboratory personnel. This article describes various efforts taken to overcome the challenges during the establishment of this facility that may be adopted to create similar facilities in other regions of the country. Establishing a BSL-2 laboratory with BSL-3-equivalent infection prevention and control practices will aid in the early detection of a large number of cases, thereby isolating persons with COVID-19, limiting the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and promoting a robust public health response to contain the pandemic. https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/14415COVID-19SARS-CoV-2Biosafety laboratorychallenges |
| spellingShingle | SM Rashed Ul Islam Tahmina Akther Sharmin Sultana Paroma Deb Asish Kumar Ghosh Md. Abdullah Omar Nasif Amirul Huda Bhuiyan Munira Jahan Afzalun Nessa Saif Ullah Munshi Shahina Tabassum Challenges in the establishment of a biosafety testing laboratory for COVID-19 in Bangladesh Journal of Infection in Developing Countries COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 Biosafety laboratory challenges |
| title | Challenges in the establishment of a biosafety testing laboratory for COVID-19 in Bangladesh |
| title_full | Challenges in the establishment of a biosafety testing laboratory for COVID-19 in Bangladesh |
| title_fullStr | Challenges in the establishment of a biosafety testing laboratory for COVID-19 in Bangladesh |
| title_full_unstemmed | Challenges in the establishment of a biosafety testing laboratory for COVID-19 in Bangladesh |
| title_short | Challenges in the establishment of a biosafety testing laboratory for COVID-19 in Bangladesh |
| title_sort | challenges in the establishment of a biosafety testing laboratory for covid 19 in bangladesh |
| topic | COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 Biosafety laboratory challenges |
| url | https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/14415 |
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