Plasma therapy has done wonders in the United States and the United Kingdom. China, where the Covid-19 pandemic first emerged, had used plasma treatment to treat critical coronavirus patients.
In India, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had in April allowed states to start clinical trials of plasma therapy. However, there isn't enough awareness about it in most parts of the country.
The plasma banks, which can help coronavirus patients in getting convalescent plasma therapy from plasma donated by survivors of Covid-19, are striving to get donors, despite India having a high recovery rate.
3 volunteered to donate plasma in Bengaluru
A few days back, the Karnataka government had even announced a token appreciation of Rs 5,000 for plasma donations from survivors.
However, it seems that only three have volunteered to donate plasma out of over 5,000 recovered patients in the Bengaluru city.
Dr Sreelatha, head of the department of blood transfusion, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI), told Deccan Chronicle that the hospital is facing tough times as neither recovered patients are volunteering to donate plasma nor non-infected volunteers are coming forward to donate blood.
Delhi, Bengal & Kerala have come up plasma banks
New Delhi, West Bengal and Kerala have already come up with plasma banks while other states are also planning to launch the facilities. The banks are complaining that there are very few donors.
Covid-19 India cases, deaths
With the highest single-day spike of 40,425 Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours India's coronavirus tally reached 11,19,043, according to data released by the Health Ministry data on Monday, July 20. With 681 new deaths, the death toll touched 27,497 today.
The highest spike in cases were reported from states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, New Delhi, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
Globally, the coronavirus crisis has infected over 1.4 crore people and killed six lakh. The US, Brazil and India continue to remain the countries worst affected by the Covid pandemic.
