Lack of facility and awareness holds up donation in districts

Vellore

Though the government had urged recovered patients to donate plasma four days ago, the response has so far been lukewarm, sources said.

“Most Tablighi Jamaat patients who recovered from the infection are willing to donate plasma. But as most of them are located in various parts of the State, they do not know if district headquarters hospitals have the requisite infrastructure,” said Dr MA Ziaullah Khan.

“While all government hospitals in Chennai and district HQ hospitals at Kancheepuram, Tiruchy and Coimbatore have this facility, there is no information whether smaller district hospitals have this facility,” added H Hameed who facilitated 35 recovered patients to donate plasma in Chennai recently. “If we know which district has facilities for plasma donation, we are ready to send donors to those hospitals,” he added.

“However, what has made plasma donors hesitate to come forward is the fear that they might be asked to go through PCR testing once again, which would mean them being quarantined till the test results are out,” added Ziaullah Khan.

“With nearly 60 per cent of positive cases in the State recovering, we have enough candidates who can ensure early recovery of remaining patients if they donate plasma. Then fatalities will also come down drastically,” opined AIADMK medical wing deputy general secretary and former Pernambut MLA J Parandhaman.

When asked, health officials here said the Vellore Government Medical College Hospital – the main medical institution for integrated Vellore district – lacked the facility. “Using plasma to fight the pandemic is still at the trial stage in TN. Only when it is approved will all hospitals be given this facility,” the official pointed out.

Eminent virologist Dr T Jacob John said, “Plasma therapy (passive immunisation) will reduce the time taken for COVID positive patients to develop antibodies from 12 days to 2 days. Hence they will recover faster.”