Department of Microbiology

Faculty

Medical Officer

Senior Resident

Staff

Academic Course

MD (Microbiology)

Patient Care Services

Bacteriology and Serology Unit

Annual investigation report for the year 2025 (1st Jan to 31st Dec)

• Broth Micro dilution test for Colistin
• Vancomycin screen agar test to detect Vancomycin resistance
• Slit Skin Smear (SSS) for Leprosy: 940
• TIER 1 EQAS
• IAMM: 3/Year

Protozoology Unit

Routine clinical & diagnostic service to the patient - the unit provides diagnostic & clinical service to the patient throughout the year on Malaria, Kala-azar and other protozoan infections. It also serves as a referral unit for protozoan infections.

Incidence of malaria detected and treated (2024)

Routine diagnostic service to the patients of Kala-azar / rk-39 test (2024)

Helminthology Unit

Filaria OPD attendance (2025): 1172

Unit Laboratory (2025)

Mycology Unit

Number of investigations (2025)

Virology Unit

Routine Activities of Virology Unit

• Arbo viruses
  • Serological diagnosis of
    1. Dengue NS1 detection by ELISA
    2. Anti-Dengue IgM ELISA
    3. Anti-Dengue IgG ELISA
    4. Anti-Chikungunya IgM ELISA
    5. Anti-Japanese encephalitis IgM ELISA
  • Molecular Diagnosis of
    1. Chikungunya virus RNA detection
    2. Dengue virus RNA detection
    3. Dengue serotyping
• Hepatitis viruses
  • Serological diagnosis of
    1. Anti-HCV antibodies ELISA / RAPID
    2. Hepatitis B s antigen ELISA/ RAPID
    3. Anti-HAV IgM ELISA
    4. Anti-HEV IgM ELISA
    5. Hepatitis B e antigen ELISA
    6. Anti HBs antibody titre ELISA
    7. Anti HBc Antibody ELISA
• Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV)
  • Serological diagnosis of
    1. HIV 1 and 2 by RAPID, ELISA and Western blot test (as per NACO guideline)
  • ICTC - Routine testing of HIV among patients referred from STI clinic
  • NRL -
    1. Conducts proficiency testing and panel sera distribution (HIV EQAS) to the HIV State Reference Laboratories (SRL) of West Bengal, Bihar, Sikkim and Chhattisgarh
    2. Confirmation of Indeterminate and discordant samples by Western Blot test
    3. Confirmation of HIV 2 by Western Blot test (NRL is also designated as Referral Lab for the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Sikkim and Jharkhand for HIV 2 diagnosis)
• SARS CoV2
  1. Molecular diagnosis (RT-PCR) - Almost 100000 (One lac) SARS CoV-2 RT-PCR test has been done.
  2. Rapid Antigen Test (Lateral flow assay)
  3. SARS CoV 2 IgG by ELISA testing
  4. Regular QC test of different RAT kit, RNA Extraction kit and RT-PCR kit done.
  5. Acting as State nodal Center for Whole Genome Sequencing of SARS CoV-2 virus.
• Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) Panel (other than Arbo viral causes)
  • Molecular testing of
    1. Scrub typhus
    2. Herpes Simplex Virus 1 and 2
    3. Leptospira
    4. Streptococcus pneumoniae
    5. Hemophillus influenzae
    6. Neisseria meningitides
  • Serological testing (IgM) of
    1. Scrub typhus
    2. Herpes Simplex Virus 1 and 2
    3. Leptospira
• Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) Panel
  • Molecular testing of
    1. Influenza A + B Flu typing
    2. Sub typing of Influenza A H1N1, pdm009,H3N2
    3. Para Influenza (1,2,3&4)
    4. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
    5. Adeno virus
    6. Entero virus
    7. Rhino virus
    8. Human Metapneumo virus (HMPV)
    9. Human Boca Virus
• Others
  • Epstein Barr virus (EBV)
  • Cytomegalo virus (CMV)
• Next Generation Sequencing

Since January 2020, Virology unit is designated as one of the State Reference Laboratories of NVHCP programme for several Health districts of West Bengal.

Yearly testing details (2025)

Ongoing Research Projects

Recent Publications

1. Samanta A, Patra D, Chaudhury A, Saha P, Sardar AA, Gupta S, Kumar AM, Guha SK, Das S. Assessment of nutritional status among post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis patients in endemic areas of northern West Bengal, India. Trop Parasitol. 2025;15:42-51.
2. Samanta A, Saha P, Misra AK, Sardar AA, Maji D, Dey R, Mandal A, Halder S, Ali KA, Karmakar S, Sharma D, Maji AK, Guha SK. Challenges and Way Forward for Prevention of Resurgence of Visceral Leishmaniasis: A Four Years Community Based Study in Erstwhile Endemic Districts of West Bengal, India. Trop Med Int Health. 2026 Jan 15. doi:10.1111/tmi.70081. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41539302. (Accepted in December, 2025).
3. Chowdhury A, Dutta S, Karmakar J, Das M, Kumar AM, Saha P. Susceptibility status of Anopheles culicifacies and Anopheles stephensi to different insecticides in malaria endemic areas of Northern West Bengal, India. International Journal of Mosquito Research. 2025;12(6):22-31.
4. Chowdhury A, Das M, Maji AK, Saha P. Abundance of major malaria vectors and their population dynamics in northern districts of West Bengal, India. International Journal of Mosquito Research. 2025;12(4):01-15.
5. Das A, Banerjee M, Roy S, Mandal L, Ghosh R, Roy S, Roychoudhury S. Comprehensive microbiota analysis and UV-C intervention in embalmed cadavers: A retrospective study on anatomical teaching and preservation. Students' Journal of Health Research Africa. 2024;5(12).
6. Paul P, Mandal T, Mukherjee I, Thakur R, Maity S, Bhattacharyya S, Haldar P, Roy S, Dand N, Chatterjee S. Early detection of cytokine storm and IgG levels to predict and prevent severe COVID-19 infection. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. 2025;14:4334-41.
7. Biswas S, Mandal S, Debnandi A, Sengupta A, Ghosh T. Assessment of the epidemiological overlap among morphologically identical species of entamoeba among the patients attending Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine. Panacea Journal of Medical Sciences. 2025;15(2):458-464.
8. Chakraborty A, Biswas S. A Multi-Centric Prospective Study on Candidiasis – the Clinico-Epidemiological Aspect and Antifungal Susceptibility Pattern in Tertiary Care Hospitals. Int J Acad Med Pharm. 2025;7(6):536-542.
9. Dutta M, Chattopadhyay S, Chowdhury A, Ray S, Biswas K, Gupta B, Bandyopadhyay RB. Respiratory syncytial virus infection in the context of COVID-19: a retrospective study from Eastern India. J Clin Diagn Res. Accepted in October, 2025.
10. Mandal S, Biswas S, Debnandi A, Sengupta A, Ghosh T. Potential use of IgG2 Anti-Filarial Antibody as early diagnostic and prognostic indicator of Lymphatic Filariasis Cases in India. Accepted in 2025.