The State’s first plasma bank has come up at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) at a cost of ₹2.34 crore.
The facility has the capacity to collect plasma from seven donors simultaneously, Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said on Wednesday.
After inaugurating the facility, the Minister said the State government was planning to set up plasma banks at the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital, the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Specialty Hospital at Omandurar Estate, the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University and the government medical colleges in Salem, Tiruchi, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli.
“The trial of convalescent plasma therapy has been completed successfully in the State. We are launching the facility today, with two donors (persons who have recovered from COVID-19) coming forward to donate plasma,” he said.
Under the trial, 24 out of the 26 COVID-19 patients who had received convalescent plasma had returned home after recovery at RGGGH. At the Madurai Medical College, four patients were treated with convalescent plasma, the Minister said.
People can donate plasma 14 days after recovering from COVID-19. Those with co-morbid conditions like hypertension, diabetes, cardiac diseases, renal diseases and cancers, and those who have undergone organ transplants are not eligible to donate plasma. Eligible persons can donate plasma twice, after an interval of 14 days. At the bank, 500 ml of plasma would be collected from each eligible donor, and the process would take a maximum of 30 minutes. The plasma is stored at a temperature of 40 degree Celsius, and could be stored for up to a year, a press release said.
The equipment for the plasma bank was procured through the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation.
Dr. Vijayabaskar urged patients who had recovered from COVID-19 to come forward and donate plasma without fear or apprehension.
Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan and Health Department officials took part in the event.
