A dip in the world of our ‘behind-the-scene’ warriors: the lab professionals! |24 April 2020

COVID-19 has taken the world aback and with this pandemic everyone gains a new appreciation of the medical professionals; be it for the attendant, the office worker, the nurse, the doctor, the lab technicians and technologists, we all know now that without them we are doomed.

We talked a lot about the important services offered by the nurses and the doctors but I personally feel that we haven’t talked much about the people who are instrumental in detecting and confirming a new case of COVID-19 in the country – the laboratory team!

Now is a great time to acknowledge some ‘behind-the-scene’ warriors fighting the coronavirus – the lab professionals! Seychelles NATION had the opportunity to visit the laboratory and the personnel at the Seychelles Hospital for a chat. The head of the Seychelles Public Health Laboratory, Leon Biscornet, welcomed our team by thoroughly explaining the safety issues.

First, he took us to the laboratory unit that is used to process samples from COVID-19 and tuberculosis patients. Do not worry, we were not allowed in due to security and safety reasons.

“Laboratories undertaking testing for COVID-19 virus should adhere strictly to appropriate biosafety practices. In Seychelles the laboratory we are using for testing COVID-19 is a bio-safety lab 2+ and it is the same one that we use for tuberculosis testing. We use the same biosafety procedures for both and our lab tech is equipped with special personal protection equipment (PPE). In most countries, tests for COVID-19 are being processed in a TB lab as they are already equipped with necessary tools and conditions. I would also note that before COVID-19 we used to conduct other tests in this lab but since the outbreak we use this specific lab for COVID-19 tests only,” explained Mr Biscornet.

How does the test work? “Once we receive a sample, we process it in the lab. We deactivate the sample and everything done is bio-safety cabinet class two. The lab is also equipped with a High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, double door entry, autoclave and negative-air pressure,” explained Mr Biscornet.

The laboratory team is composed of 17 staff and currently they are being assisted by three volunteers who are also qualified in laboratory sciences.

With this pandemic, there is more pressure on the department, and how is this affecting the laboratory service?

“Usually the public health laboratory is here to give support for diagnostic testing and also on a prevention level. Which means we also test a variety of products such as food (from hotels, shops), water (sea water, river water and consumable water). Microbiological analysis is the use of biological, biochemical, molecular or chemical methods for the detection, identification or enumeration of microorganisms in a material. It is often applied to disease causing and spoilage microorganisms. We also test the air at the hospitals as microbiological testing is imperative to avoid microbial contaminants inside controlled environments including production areas and clean rooms. But now with COVID-19, these tests have been reduced considerably, except the ones we do for the hospitals. Most of the samples we used to get were related to the tourism industry. Most of our staff are engaged toward the response against COVID-19. But still we are continuing with the other tests whenever we receive them, for example for leptospirosis, dengue and measles which is also tested in this lab.”

What is your schedule? “With COVID-19, all sections at the department of health had to review the way they were working. In our laboratory service, we have a schedule where the staff work on a rotation.

“At any given moment, we are ready to roll out, if ever we get a large number of samples, to manage the situation. That would mean we will have to go on a 24- hour basis. But currently we are on an 18-hour basis. Right now we have two shifts but if the situation changes, we will have to go on a three-shift schedule. Thank God, we have so far been able to detect and contain the cases at the right moment.”

The head of lab also brought us to see where the final tests are being done to confirm a COVID-19 case, and that use genetic molecular methods called Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).