The quantum jump in the dengue positive cases and acute shortage of platelets which is needed for treatment of patients are giving jitters to the blood banks in Visakhapatnam district. At present, less than half of the total 14 blood banks in the district have component separation units for retrieving platelets which means the rest have to dependant on them when in the need of platelets.

Infection count

As the trend goes, the spread of dengue and viral fevers is rampant between June and October every year, fuelling the demand for platelets.

The blood samples tested at the Virology Lab in the King George Hospital (KGH) has seen a quantum jump in the dengue positive cases from 214 in June to 558 in July, says Dr. K. Indira Devi, Nodal Officer for Dengue and Deputy Superintendent of KGH.

These figures corroborate with the growing demand and scarcity of platelets at various blood banks in the city.

The demand for platelets has doubled from the normal requirement of 50 units a day and we are unable to meet the surge in demand, says Dr. P. Kamala Devi, Chief Medical Officer of Rotary Blood Bank.

According to doctors, a healthy person can donate only one packet (350 ml) of blood at a time from which one platelet unit can be retrieved. The Rotary Blood Bank is equipped with a Single Donor Platelet Separator(SDPS), which enables retrieval of more platelets from a single patient.

Short shelf life

The problem, however, is with the short shelf life of platelets as they can be stored only for five days as against 35 days for blood and one year for plasma.

Of the five day shelf life, one-and-a-half day is needed for testing of the blood, leaving only three-and-a-half day for transfusion to patient, says Dr. Kamala Devi. The disposable kit, used for retrieval of platelets under SDPS, alone costs ₹6,500.

Despite good voluntary donation, the demand has outstripped the supply. Patients are coming from as far as Srikakulam for blood, says K. Manjula Vani, Medical Officer of the Lions Club Blood Bank.

The 350 ml of blood, which a person donates, can be recouped in 36 hours. I make it a point to donate blood on the birthdays of my favourite Tollywood stars Chiranjeevi and Pawan Kalyan, says G.V. Ramesh, a young interior designer of Resapuvanipalem, who has already donated blood 30 times.

Collection van

However, authorities attribute the shortage of platelets to the increase in the requirement at referral hospitals including KGH and Government Hospital for Chest Diseases. “We have stationed a Blood Collection Transportation Van at Narsipatnam for collection of blood from rural donors and supplying them to hospitals,” District Project Manager (Blood Banks) Sailaja says.

The normal monthly requirement of blood is estimated at around 1 per cent of the population. As against the annual requirement of 2 lakh units in the city, there would be around 50% deficit on the average, says Dr. P. Venugopal, Head of the Department of Paediatrics, Andhra Medical College (AMC), who is also District branch chairman of Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) that runs the IRCS Blood Bank.