On Monday, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray made a public appeal for plasma donation by people who have recovered from COVID-19. The appeal comes in the environment of hesitancy between recovered patients in donating plasma. Only 66 of the 93,154 recovered patients in the state have come forward for donation ever since the CM’s appeal.

On Thursday, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that each district would have a plasma centre. BMC has managed to get only 70 donors in Mumbai. Even though the experts said that the number of donors is increasing gradually, more donors are needed and quickly. Blood banks in the city said that recovered patients are refusing to donate as they are scared of going back to the hospital.

Convalescent Plasma therapy includes extracting plasma from recovered patients after 21-28 days of their discharge and injecting it into a critically ill COVID-19 patient. The antibodies which are developed in a recovered patient can help to fight against the coronavirus in critical patients. Recovered patients can donate once in every 15 days till four months after discharge.

In Mumbai, there are almost 14 licensed plasma banks and Food and Drug Administration has given licenses to 11 of these banks in the past two months. The new banks who got license are JJ, Sion, Nair, KEM, HN Reliance, PD Hinduja, Jagjeevan Ram, Prince Aly Khan, Breach Candy and K G Somaiya hospital.

In Nanavati hospital, the first in Mumbai to obtain a plasma license, their head of transfusion medicine Dr Rinku Bhatia said that she called over 250 recovered patients but only seven of them donated plasma. Many patients refuse refering to fear of returning to a hospital as they had spent days recovering from COVID-19. In few cases, patients said that they have returned to their home town that is outside Mumbai. And in several cases, the family flatly refused for donation.

54 donors have come forward in Nair hospital, in KEM hospital six donors and in Sion hospital 10 donors have donated plasma.

Dr Om Srivastava, infectious disease expert, heading plasma therapy trial with BMC, said that plasma donation is the need of this crucial hour. The number of recovered patients is vast but plasma units available in city has less than 100. Plasma therapy can help critical patients if used at correct time.

Up to now, BMC has used plasma therapy on 20 COVID-19 patients, out of them 19 are recovered and one died. Additional municipal commissioner, Suresh Kakani, said that civic hospitals are asked to start counselling patients during their treatment. Hospitals have been asked to keep touch with patients even after discharge to build a bond or rapport. Local ward offices also have been instructed the same. When any officer calls to inquire about their health, the patient develops faith in the system. Patients who agree to donate would be asked to undergo screening at nearby dispensaries or laboratories for infectious diseases like HIV and Hepatitis and patients tested negative will be requested to visit hospital for donating plasma.

The plasmapheresis process takes approximately 30 minutes. The patient’s blood enters a machine that separates plasma and redirects the remaining blood back into the donor’s body. Each donor can donate almost 400-500 ml of plasma that can help two critical patients. Dr Mohammed Faisal, in-charge of Project Platina, said that they are approaching COVID-19 patients who had few symptoms as it ensures more antibodies. They have a list of 600 patients and have started calling them. People with uncontrolled diabetes and more than two comorbidities and women who suffered abortion are not eligible for donation.

A 55-year-old man on non-invasive ventilator support had benefited from plasma therapy in Nagpur after a donor came forward on Wednesday. Doctors informed that the first dose of plasma therapy improved his condition.

Source: The Indian Express