City blood banks drained out due to dengue menace
13 Oct 2013 10:27 PM GMT
With the rise in dengue cases in the capital, the demand for blood donors has drastically gone up. The fever-hit city is actually facing a major problem due to the scarcity of blood donors. With high demand from both government and private hospitals, the blood banks in the city have been stating severe shortage of blood to procure platelets in order to cure the dengue-infected patients.
‘Our hospital is facing crisis of blood. Although the blood bank is well equipped, at times there is an acute shortage due to huge influx of patients, which becomes unmanageable and then we depend upon other sources. These sources are at times unreliable and we cannot depend on them completely,’ said Dr Ajay Agarwal, Internal Medicine at Fortis hospital.
‘Almost 5 percent of the total patients admitted for dengue require blood transfusion. It is indeed difficult to find a single blood platelet donor and also match the blood group at the same time and because of this delay patients suffer miserably. Last year it costed Rupees 10,000, but this year it costs 13000-14000. However with the onset of winters we do expect that dengue cases will cease out soon,’ added Dr Agarwal.
Doctors state that platelet transfusion is important for all those who stand a count of below 20,000 and any case of internal bleeding.
‘The main cause behind the growing demand is attributed to the numerous cases of dengue infected patients. The platelet count of the patients which is affected with dengue, repeatedly falls below normal levels. Blood cannot be collected from bystanders or any random relatives of the patient, since there is a possibility that they too could be infected with the virus. Therefore, we strongly recommend new platelet donors to come forward,’ said Dr Sangeeta Pathak, HOD, Transfusion services, Max Healthcare.
‘In a normal situation the count is 1.5 lakh, but in case of dengue it goes down to 20,000 and 10,000. In such a condition immediate blood transfusion is needed. Dengue patients need at least four to five units of blood to come up to the normal platelet count level. ‘However, these platelets can be kept stored for just four days, so transfusions should take place at the earliest. We are hoping that the crisis gets over soon as mosquitoes don’t breed during winters,’ said Dr Pathak.
‘Our hospital is facing crisis of blood. Although the blood bank is well equipped, at times there is an acute shortage due to huge influx of patients, which becomes unmanageable and then we depend upon other sources. These sources are at times unreliable and we cannot depend on them completely,’ said Dr Ajay Agarwal, Internal Medicine at Fortis hospital.
‘Almost 5 percent of the total patients admitted for dengue require blood transfusion. It is indeed difficult to find a single blood platelet donor and also match the blood group at the same time and because of this delay patients suffer miserably. Last year it costed Rupees 10,000, but this year it costs 13000-14000. However with the onset of winters we do expect that dengue cases will cease out soon,’ added Dr Agarwal.
Doctors state that platelet transfusion is important for all those who stand a count of below 20,000 and any case of internal bleeding.
‘The main cause behind the growing demand is attributed to the numerous cases of dengue infected patients. The platelet count of the patients which is affected with dengue, repeatedly falls below normal levels. Blood cannot be collected from bystanders or any random relatives of the patient, since there is a possibility that they too could be infected with the virus. Therefore, we strongly recommend new platelet donors to come forward,’ said Dr Sangeeta Pathak, HOD, Transfusion services, Max Healthcare.
‘In a normal situation the count is 1.5 lakh, but in case of dengue it goes down to 20,000 and 10,000. In such a condition immediate blood transfusion is needed. Dengue patients need at least four to five units of blood to come up to the normal platelet count level. ‘However, these platelets can be kept stored for just four days, so transfusions should take place at the earliest. We are hoping that the crisis gets over soon as mosquitoes don’t breed during winters,’ said Dr Pathak.
Next Story
