After a gap of eleven days, the operations would again start in the Operation Theatre (OT) of Ophthalmology department at associated hospital of Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) here from Saturday. The Eye OT was closed following a culture test found presence of deadly bacteria in the swab samples.
The Principal of the GDMC, Dr Pradeep Bharati Gupta told The Pioneer that following the positive culture three cultures in succession are found negative from any bacteria. He said that the since the OT is now made free from possible causes of infection it would be made operational from Saturday.
A place like OT is needed to be completely germ free so that there is no threat of infections to the patients during the operations. The medical experts consider prevention of hospital borne infections a major health challenge.
The culture test is done to detect presence of bacteria in the sample. The swab sample taken from the OT last month was found positive for bacteria following which operations were stopped in it from July 26.
The Head of department (HOD) of Microbiology of GDMC, Dr Yogendra Pratap explained that the culture tests are done at regular interval to check the presence of bacteria in the OT. The swab sample is taken by random scratching of the surface and is tested for bacterial culture.
He said that the swab sample of the OT was found infected with very harmful bacteria like Acinetobacter and Staphylococcus which are known to cause many diseases in humans. Microbiologists suggest regular culture tests for a place like OT so as to make it germ free. According to a normal procedure the culture test is done once in a week in OT.
To make a place germ free regular cleaning of the surface is done following which the area is fumigated with formalin. The Eye OT of the associated hospital of GDMC suffers from the problem of water seepage due to which the place becomes humid and conducive for bacterial growth.
The Head of Department (HOD) Ophthalmology, Dr Sushil Ojha also confirmed that the operation would start in OT from Saturday. He disclosed that on an average 10 operations are done in the OT daily.