Tűzoltó Street Department of Budapest’s Paediatric Clinic, 2023

What used to be the 2^nd Department of Paediatrics in Budapest and is now the Tűzoltó Street Department of Budapest’s Paediatric Clinic looks back on a history of more than 135 years specialising in child health care.

Upon contacting the clinic after the 2023 Burns Supper we soon heard from our medical adviser Professor György Fekete that the most useful piece of equipment we could buy this year was actually connected to a previous donation made by the RBIF.

 “The Nanodrop One spectrophotometer was chosen because it allows for the rapid measurement of the purity and quantity of hereditary material extracted from a blood sample for genetic testing, within moments, to determine whether this hereditary material is suitable for the planned molecular genetic testing, which is typically expensive.” – revealed Dr Erika Tomsits.

“At the same time, it has the advantage that only a small amount (1 µL) of the extracted hereditary material is needed for the measurement and no additional reagents are required.“

The measurement itself is automatically stored in the instrument and can be retrieved at any time, while the instrument is also indispensable for research experiments to perform quality measurements.

The instrument can be used not only to determine the purity and approximate quantity of hereditary material but also of other protein preparations, which greatly extends its range of applications. Currently, it is the state-of-the-art instrument that, through its speed and precision, makes an integral contribution to the performance and success of genetic diagnostic procedures.

This equipment is so vital because the examinations further down the line using these samples are both expensive and time-consuming, and if the quality of the sample is poor, the whole process has to be repeated, taking more time and causing more grief for the patient concerned. Many of these examinations use diagnostic equipment previously donated by the RBIF.

Thanks to the generosity of everyone who attended the 2023 Burns Supper, this factor of uncertainty is removed from the equation, as the doctors immediately know whether the sample taken will be suitable for further diagnosis, which speeds up the entire process.

The hospital in Tűzoltó utca is one of the principal children’s hospitals not just in Budapest but for the whole of Hungary. Children needing special treatment are often transferred here from other hospitals, so it makes sense to help ensure this hospital has the equipment needed to offer the best available support for sick children in Hungary. This assistance is made possible as ever by our Burns Supper sponsors, and in 2023 our main sponsors included @Budapest Airport, @Taxually and @FirstMed.