Plasma donors in Mysuru need not go to Mandya any more

Mysuru: Covid-19 recovered patients from Mysuru now need not have to go to Mandya to donate their plasma, as there is plasma bank and plasmapheresis machine now at KR Hospital in Mysuru.

Mysuru District Minister S T Somshekar inaugurated this new facility on Friday. "Covid India campaign"- a volunteer driver disaster support task force formed under the aegis of ICATT Foundation, has got this machine donated to KR Hospital via their Mission COPE (Covid Plasma Endeavour). Snc-lavalin Atkins has donated this machine which costs over Rs 22 lakh.

"Let's do it Mysuru", a voluntary organisation of group of over 8,000 Mysureans, led by Mysuru Travel Agents' Association president Prashanth B S had got in touch with Dr Shalini Nalwad, who heads Mission COPE and also founder volunteer of 'Covid India campaign' and co-founder of ICATT Foundation. They have succeeded in getting this facility to KR Hospital.

Mr Prashanth B S said, "While the death rate due to Covid-19 in Mysuru has been more, we had found it difficult in procuring plasma for a few Covid-19 positive patients, so we had approached Dr Shalini. Now this machine will help Covid-19 recovered from Mysuru to donate plasma at Mysuru itself," he said.

According Dr Manjunath B S, blood bank officer at KR Hospital, they are yet to get license for this new facility and it will take another two weeks before this new facility is functional. Plasmapheresis machine at the blood bank of KR Hospital is 22 years old and it was not functional.

The plasma collection centre at MIMS in Mandya was the only KSAPS (Karnataka State Aids Prevention Society) licensed centre for Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajnagar and Hassan districts. But Jeevadhara Blood Bank in Mysuru has also procured plasmapheresis machine a week ago and they have license now. But at Jeevadhara, they charge over Rs 12,000 per unit of plasma from Covid-19 positive patients. But at government hospital like MIMS, it is given free of cost. And at KR Hospital, it will be given free of cost to Covid-19 positive patients.

Plasma therapy is one of the supportive measures to treat Covid-19 positive patients. Though Mysuru has 34,777 Covid-19 positive cases and 27606 people have recovered, hardly 115 Covid-19 recovered patients from Mysuru have donated plasma for over a month so far.

According to Dr Anikethana G V, assistant professor, Department of Medicine and Coordinator of plasma therapy at Plasma Donation Centre at MIMS in Mandya, as many as 160 Covid-19 recovered patients including 90 people from Mysuru have donated plasma ever since they started collecting plasma over a month ago. Also, at Jeevadhara blood bank, in the past one week only, 25 Covid-19 recovered people have donated plasma.