Following a rise in the number of dengue cases in Bengaluru, blood banks are seeing an increase in demand for platelets. People are forced to look for donors or offer blood replacement in exchange for platelets, a vital blood transfusion component for the treatment of dengue.
Although the overall incidence of dengue (from January till date) in Karnataka is lower than that reported during the corresponding period in 2022, cases in Bengaluru have almost doubled from 585 (as of July 12) in 2022 to 905 this year. According to data from the State Health Department, cases shot up from 732 on July 1 to 905 on July 12 in Bengaluru.
While most blood banks in Bengaluru are facing a demand of at least 40 random donor platelet (RDP) units a day, the requirement of single donor platelet (SDP) units — required for critical patients — is around 5 a day.
“The demand for platelets has gone up considerably in the last two weeks as a result of a rise in dengue cases. This week, the situation is slightly better. We are struggling to meet the demand for SDP as blood has to be drawn as and when there is a demand,” said Abdul Rehman Shariff, Managing Trustee of Jeevaraksha Blood Centre.
Shelf life of platelets
“As platelets have a maximum shelf life of five days, laboratories usually process the blood only when required. But, in the current situation, labs are processing blood as and when it is collected to reduce the wait time. Platelets have to be processed within six hours of drawing blood,” said T.N. Ravi Kumar, Director of Red Cross Blood Bank Sub-Committee.
Prasanna C., Medical Officer of Red Cross Society’s Blood Bank, said they have fresh frozen plasma stock collected through organised blood donation camps. “Hence, we are able to meet the demand for random donor platelets. But, for single donor platelets, which we are dispensing at the rate of around 5 units every day, we need to draw when there is a requirement,” he said.
“We also get calls from other districts. We connect them to our nearest branches, or if there is no availability, we connect them to other banks,” he said.
Ankit Mathur, Additional Medical Director at TTK Blood Bank, said demand has been on the rise in the past two weeks. “We usually ask for replacement donors if the requirement is for single donor platelets,” Dr Mathur said.
Manoj Kumar, Managing Trustee of Lions Blood Bank at Vijayanagar, said they tap into Lions BloodLine, a group of donors, if a patient’s relatives are unable to get replacement donors.
Transfusion not required in all cases
Shivram C., Consultant in Transfusion Medicine at Manipal Hospitals (Old Airport Road), said, as per guidelines, platelet transfusion is required only when the patient’s count goes below 10,000 per microlitre, or if the patient has clinical (visible) bleeding.
They have observed a roughly 25% increase in platelet use. Dr Shivram said, generally, platelets are judiciously used now compared to previous years. “There is no need to panic, as a patient can recover without transfusion even if the count drops up to 10,000 with proper management and monitoring in the hospital,” he asserted.
