Plasma banks in city to stay open for now

With India dropping convalescent plasma therapy from the list of treatments prescribed for Covid-19 patients, plasma banks and other allied infrastructure that have come up in Delhi-ncr, including Noida, over the course of the pandemic are likely to be rendered useless.

In July last year, Delhi became the first state to start a plasma bank at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) in Vasant Kunj. Two others at the Delhi government’s Lok Nayak and Guru Teg Bahadur were started later on.

Dr SK Sarin, ILBS director, said the facility will continue to offer plasma for those who may need it. “Now, it is at the discretion of the treating physician whether to prescribe it or not. If people want to donate plasma, they can continue to do so. But, we will not court donors,” he said.

Their plasma bank has issued over 2,500 units of plasma over the past month alone.

A doctor from Lok Nayak hospital confirmed that health care facilities can still choose to administer plasma therapy, despite it being dropped from clinical treatment guidelines. “It is a guideline and not an order. If we feel that a patient needs plasma therapy, we will still provide it. The number of patients where it is used will, however, be limited. This guideline will mainly ensure that plasma therapy is not misused. We have seen it has no benefit in patients who already have severe disease,” said the senior doctor from Lok Nayak hospital.

In Noida, the Super Speciality Paediatric Hospital and Post Graduate Teaching Institute, better known as Child PGI, runs a plasma bank. Officials here say that the service may be restricted, but the bank will not be shut.

“Plasma for Covid patients was an additional service that the bank was providing. However, as per the Lancet journal, there is still a sub-category of Covid patients already suffering from cancer or other immunosuppressed diseases who may need convalescent plasma therapy. Hence, while we will use Covid plasma judiciously in view of the new guidelines, it will not be completely stopped as of now,” said Dr Satyam Arora, associate professor (research and transfusion medicine) at Child PGI, Noida.

Officials at the Rotary Noida Blood Bank, which has a plasma bank for Covid patients, said that the plasma bank will be shut once they get an official order.

“As per protocol, if doctors do not prescribe patients for convalescent plasma therapy, then demand for the same will go down and plasma donations will be stopped as well. However, as of now, we do not have any official order to shut the plasma bank services,” said Trilok Sharma, founder trustee, Rotary Noida Blood Bank.