NRL-BED concludes cholera rapid diagnostic test trainings for 2022
Posted on  by Anel Azel Dimaano

Region I Ilocos Center for Health Development participants during the hands-on demonstration activities on November 18, 2022.

To further equip the regions to respond to possible cholera outbreaks, the National Reference Laboratory for Bacterial Enteric Diseases (NRL-BED) capped off its series of trainings on the use of Vibrio cholerae rapid diagnostic test (VC RDT) kits by capacitating a total of 139 participants  in San Fernando, La Union from November 17-18, 2022 and in New Manila, Quezon City on November 22, 2022.

The trainings aimed to train the medical technologists, nurses, sanitary inspectors and other similarly related personnel of the Centers for Health Development (CHDs) of the concerned regions. The training in La Union equipped the CHD of the Ilocos Region (110 participants), while the training in Quezon City equipped the CHD of CALABARZON (29 participants).

All 139 participants successfully completed the training and are now equipped to use the VC RDT kits for screening of cholera in their respective regions. Rapid diagnostic testing of cholera will prove crucial to the investigation of cholera outbreaks and will be integral for local government units (LGUs) in their implementation of relevant health interventions.

Region IV-A CALABARZON Center for Health Development participants during the hands-on demonstration activities on November 22, 2022.

The trainings were facilitated by Ana Patricia Luis, Queency Reyes, Christine Bandong, Prince Ninja Bautista, and RITM Surveillance and Reponse Unit’s Angelyn Paraon. NRL-BEDs’ Science Research Specialist II Ms. Rhelean Arvie Cube spearheaded the training for the Ilocos region, while NRL-BED Head and Supervising Science Research Specialist Mr. Mark Philip G. Bugayong led the CALABARZON training.

As part of the five-year Food and Waterborne Disease-Prevention Control Program (FWBD-PCP) of the Department of Health (DOH), and as part of NRL-BEDs’ mandate to provide technical support on the laboratory diagnosis of food and waterborne disease outbreaks in the country, NRL-BED has been conducting the VC RDT training since 2018. But during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, NRL-BED transitioned the training to an online set-up.

In total, NRL-BED has already conducted ten (10) online and face-to-face VC RDT trainings for the regions since 2021.

by Emarld Julian Medina & Anel Azel Dimaano