In the Clinical Laboratory of the ICS Girona could process about 150 samples a day and now can cover all the needs of the Girona Health Region, between 300 and 400 samples a day, with the possibility of growth depending of demand

On Friday, March 27, work began on the new spaces leased by the veterinary pharmaceutical multinational

Much of the processing of PCR samples from patients and health professionals in the Girona Health Region is already done, since Friday 27 March, in the facilities that the veterinary pharmaceutical multinational HIPRA, based in Amer, has temporarily ceded at the Catalan Institute of Health.

The transfer of much of the analytical processing to these facilities has improved the response time, ie reduce the time of obtaining the results that determine whether or not there is the presence of SARS-CoV-2. The spread of coronavirus among the population, and therefore the constant increase in the number of samples to be processed, resulted in a delay in results. With the change of facilities, the capacity of processing increases since it can analyze between 300 and 400 samples to the day, that is to say, the double that until now, and with the possibility to increase remarkably. With this decisive improvement, all the PCRs of the Health Region can be processed (from the Trueta, Santa Caterina, Palamós, Figueres, Olot and Campdevànol hospitals -Blanes and Calella derive in Barcelona-, other hospitals and complementary health centres and also all the primary care) with a reasonable waiting time.

This reduction in response time is very important for the reinstatement of suspicious professionals to work: while a worker is suspicious a PCR should be done to check if he has Covid19 or not. If it is positive, it must remain isolated at home, following the instructions of any positive person, while if it is negative, it can be returned to its workplace once it has recovered from its pathology.

Transfer of equipment and professionals

To carry out this new task, some facilities of the Institute for Biomedical Research of Girona (IDIBGI) have been moved to the laboratories of HIPRA, with nearly 700 m2 equipped with the latest technology in PCR diagnosis. which has also assigned volunteer professionals, both from its Genetic Diagnostic Laboratory (LDG) and from other research groups, to ensure that there are enough staff, who are in charge of processing the samples together with a specialist doctor in molecular biology. of the Catalan Institute of Health and the support of some HIPRA technicians. Volunteer staff from the University of Girona (UdG) and the Girona- based startups GoodGut and Microbial have also been offered.. In addition, HIPRA is in charge of the logistical support for the transport of the samples, and for this reason it has organized a transport service for the periodic transfer of inactivated samples from the ICS Girona Territorial Clinical Laboratory, located in the Martí i Julià de Salt Hospital Park, in its facilities in Amer.

Sample processing

The processing of the samples by the PCR method that allows to determine the presence of SARS-CoV-2, goes through the realization of three steps: the inactivation of the sample, the extraction of the nucleic acid and its amplification to be detected.

When the samples arrive at the ICS Girona Territorial Clinical Laboratory, from all the health centers in the Girona Health Region, the virus is inactivated, in other words, the virus ceases to be infectious. This process is done entirely in this ICS Laboratory, which has a biocontainment area with a negative pressure space. A mixed team of staff from the Girona Territorial Laboratory and the IDIBGI are currently taking part in this process, but this work will be carried out entirely by the Territorial Laboratory with the incorporation of more staff.

Once this first process has been carried out, HIPRA extracts the genetic material of the virus, RNA (ribonucleic acid). The third step is to detect these molecules by amplifying them. Therefore, the sample is placed in an analyzer, which if it detects the RNA of the virus causes a chain reaction of "copied", which causes each amount to increase the amount of this molecule. After one and a half hours of copying, the amount of RNA is large enough to be able to reliably determine the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in the sample.

With the introduction of HIPRA laboratories, the inactivation process continues in the ICS laboratories in the Martí i Julià Hospital Park, where 25% of the samples will also continue to be processed.

HIPRA develops and markets animal vaccines, while providing services for the prevention and control of various animal diseases on livestock farms. For the diagnosis of these diseases, it has the latest technology in PCR analysis. Samples are treated in accordance with international protocols and the strictest biosecurity and biocontainment safety measures.

The Catalan Institute of Health in Girona would like to thank the predisposition and technological support it has received at all times from HIPRA, which in addition to selflessly ceding its spaces, equipment and professionals to deal with the pandemic, also has made an important donation of personal protective equipment for the professionals of the University Hospital of Girona Dr. Josep Trueta, Santa Caterina de Salt and the Hospital of Olot and Comarcal de la Garrotxa.