Hyderabad: Healthy donors with good platelet count are in great demand, but difficult to come by.
It is the lack of donors, and stocks of good quality that has lead to transfusions increasingly becoming less effective in the treatment of dengue.
There have been three cases in government hospitals in the last 48 hours, where the transfusion was carried out, but the effect was not as good as desired.
These cases and other recent trends in the last few weeks have shown the count in the body didn’t improve after a transfusion too, leading to apprehensions about the quality being given to the people. Health experts suspect that due to increased demand, blood banks are either diluting it or releasing stocks which are older than 10 days.
Platelets are normally effective only for five to seven days after being separated from the blood.
With the dengue virus virulent in the city, the demand for platelets is at an all-time high. Blood banks are asking for compensatory donors to be brought in before giving away platelet packs.
Dr Vijay Anand, senior paediatrician, said, “there are two categories — single-donor platelets and random platelets. The single-donor ones, drawn from one person only, are found to be six times more effective than random platelets. The random platelets are made from a mix of different donors and approved for use.”
Platelet use is common in medical procedures, but with dengue cases proliferating in the city, their demand has surged to an all-time high.
Anil Singh, Blood Donation Hyderabad, explained, “We are getting 20 calls every day seeking donors. The demand is too high since last fortnight. We normally try to send donors who live in near vicinity to make it easier for both donor and recipient. But now we are seeing a trend where several donors are getting rejected on the rationale of low counts. Due to this, we are now providing five to seven optional numbers from different areas in response to each distress call for a donor.”
The problem, explain experts, is a consequence of the rampant viral fevers in the city – those who have suffered with any of these fevers or condition are not eligible to donate. Similarly, those suffering from high blood pressure, substance abuse, smoking and other underlying ailments are also ineligible for donation.
For this reason, private doctors are asking for members of the family, who are not in these categories, to come forward for donation. Panic among the people has further led to a spike in demand, with some of them opting to book in advance.
