The demand for plasma therapy has dropped drastically in State capital leading to surplus storage of blood plasma of various blood groups at the Government-run Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), doctors from the plasma donation bank of the premier hospital said on Sunday, citing fewer cases of severe Covid-19 infection as the reason for the same.
“Even a month ago, we received at least 25 requisitions from patients seeking plasma therapy every day. In the past one week, we have hardly got one or two requisitions every day. There were zero requisitions on some days,” said Dr. Sushma, the in-charge of plasma bank at RIMS.
Dr. Sushma added that the lack of demand for plasma therapy indicated that most of the Covid-19 patients were either asymptomatic or showed mild to moderate symptoms of the viral infection. Plasma therapy, she said, was needed only for patients who had severe symptoms of Covid-19 infection.
“Before going for plasma therapy, doctors often try drug therapy and other ways to treat the patient. Plasma therapy is usually the last stage of treatment. So, it can be assumed that the fall in the demand for plasma was because fewer patients showed severe symptoms of the infection,” she said.
As per latest figures with the health department, over 25,000 cases of Covid-19 infection have surfaced in Ranchi districts since March. Ranchi accounts for the highest number of Covid-19 cases among the 24 districts in Jharkhand. However, the number of active cases in the district was around 1700 on Sunday, which means that over 93 per cent people infected here have recovered.
Plasma therapy was touted as the most effective treatment for Covid-19 across the country in May. Chief minister Hemant Soren inaugurated Jharkhand’s first plasma bank at RIMS on July 28. Since the inauguration of the facility, finding donors was a challenge, doctors spearheading the plasma therapy initiative said.
Later, the government also started plasma donation facility at Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Hazaribag. Until mid-October, the various plasma banks found it challenging to meet the demand for blood plasma.
As a part of the plasma therapy, blood plasma of a Covid survivor is injected into the body of an infected patient. It is believed that the person who survived the virus has developed antibodies in response to the Covid-19 antigen, and the survivor’s blood plasma may help the infected patient beat the virus, doctors said.
Any Covid survivor, who has recovered from the infection at least 28 days ago, is eligible to donate plasma. However, the Covid survivors who have recovered more than four months ago cannot donate plasma, health officials said. The donor should fall in the age bracket of 18 to 60 years and should not have cardiac ailments, diabetes or thyroid malfunctions.
On Sunday, the plasma bank at RIMS had two units of A+ blood plasma, five units of B+ plasma, four units of O+ plasma and two units of O- plasma. However, there was no demand for blood plasma on the day from any of the Covid hospitals in the district.