Gurugram gets first plasma bank

Gurugram: Months after waiting in anticipation, Gurugram on Thursday got its first plasma bank at the Sector-10 Rotary Blood Bank here, where five recovered COVID-19 patients donated their plasma.

Officials of the District Health Department here said they have prepared a database of over 4,000 recovered patients that can be considered for plasma donation to

critical patients. They added that 50 of them had been screened and found to be completely

fit to donate.

Health officials said that all necessary arrangements for plasma donation had been made at the bank and that each plasma unit will cost Rs 8,500. They also said that patients in both private and government hospitals can draw plasma from the bank and as of now only recovered patients from Gurugram will be allowed to donate.

"I did feel weak initially but then after consuming some food, I started feeling energetic. Being among the fortunate who have come out of this disease I felt this was a perfect gesture to do something for the doctors who had helped me recover," said Himanshu Yadav one of the donors.

The health department said that 100 antibody test kits had been provided to the plasma bank for now. One official said that antibody kits will be instrumental to check whether a recovered patient has the required concentration of COVID-19 antibodies to donate. "We plan to have a robust system wherein

every recovered patient will be monitored thoroughly and only after the required approvals will the process be allowed to go ahead," he said.

The doctors first separate the Plasma from the blood through centrifugation. The antibody-rich plasma is then transfused into the patient's body to boost their immune system.

The entire process takes around 90 minutes.