Dr Tahir Shamsi appeals for plasma donation over ‘shortage’

KARACHI: Head of the National Institute of Blood Diseases (NIBD) Dr Tahir Shamsi said Saturday that they are facing a shortage of blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients, ARY NEWS reported.

“We have reached a dead limit of available blood plasma needed to treat coronavirus patients currently admitted to hospitals or put on ventilators,” he said while making a call for more donations from recovered patients.

“We need 30 plasma bags daily to conduct passive immunization therapy on critical coronavirus patients,” he said as the provincial health minister earlier said that the process had yielded positive results in treating COVID-19 patients.

He said that the NIBD had established a helpline service for the donations.

This is not the first time that Dr Tahir Shamsi has appealed to the recovered coronavirus patients to donate their blood plasma for conducting passive immunization therapy on virus patients-mainly critical ones.

Read More: No side effects reported in patients treated with plasma therapy: Shamsi

On May 21, Dr Tahir Shamsi appealed coronavirus patients who recovered from the infection to donate blood plasma.

In his appeal, Dr Tahir Shamsi said that there is an alarming increase in the number of critical patients admitted to hospitals.

“We are in dire need of donations from recovered coronavirus patients for passive immunization therapy,” he said adding that people from any blood group could donate plasma to them.

He said that many lives could be saved from the plasma donated from recovered virus patients. Dr Tahir Shamsi urged those willing to donate plasma to contact via helpline number 0333-2976390.