INFLUENZA LABORATORY INFORMATION
Location
The National Influenza Centre (NIC) is located on the premises of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), Virology Department, on the University of Ghana campus, Legon.
Hours of operation
Unless in emergencies, the NIC’s hours of operation are from 8:00am to 5:00pm on Monday through Friday. The NIC does not officially open on weekends or public holidays. We are however equipped with on-site-specific emergency response capability.
Contact Information
For further information, please contact
Telephone: +233 24 596 0906
Email: ghananic@noguchi.ug.edu.gh
Principal Investigator:
iasante@noguchi.ug.edu.gh
Dr. Ivy Asantewaa Asante
Tel:+233 24 429 6984
Requesting and Collection of Samples
Turn-Around-Time (TAT)
The standard turn around time for processing and reporting of results for samples received in the lab is 48 hours. However please note that samples received on Fridays or before public holidays will be processed, and results reported on the following Monday / day after the holiday, which may extend the turn around time to 96 hours.
Reporting of results
Reports of laboratory examination results are delivered through email and SORMAS, in oder to protect the confidentiality of data and records.
The laboratory results are communicated as quickly as possible to the originating health facilities, DSD, VSD, CDC and NAMRU 3.
International reporting helps to inform all countries where and what subtypes of influenza are circulating. It allows contributing to the composition of the seasonal vaccine. Weekly national aggregated data on ILI, SARI cases are reported to WHO regional and global platforms such as FluNet.
Results generated by the NIC are reviewed and validated by the PI before they are sent out.