37 faulty transfusions in Doaba since 2017

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 8

In May 2017, as many as 35 patients undergoing treatment for thalassemia at the Jalandhar Civil Hospital tested positive for Hepatitis C after blood transfusion. Thirty of them were below the age of 18. A probe gave a clean chit to the hospital blood bank. The window period for HCV detection in blood was blamed for the lapse.

The following year, the Zonal Licensing Authority, Jalandhar, seized 44 units of blood at the Gulab Devi Hospital, Jalandhar, during inspection. The units were found having improper labelling. Also, vital details, such as the expiry date of the blood, were missing from the hospital blood bank. Two years hence, the case awaits a challan. The five persons arrested in the case are out on bail.

Brahm Mohindra, then Punjab Health Minister, had announced on the floor of House that nucleic acid testing (NAT), a molecular technique for screening blood donations to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) in recipients, would be ensured across the state. That has not happened so far. NAT tests are currently available only at DMC, Ludhiana, and the PGI, Chandigarh.

The recent lapses by the Phagwara blood bank with HCV-infected blood transfusion in one case and incompatible blood transfusion in another case have taken the number of faulty transfusions in three years to 37.

Vikram Gupta, Secretary, Hindustan Welfare Blood Donors’ Club said, “Untrained staff and primitive testing techniques are to blame for repeated lapses. NAT testing is the latest technique and reduces the window period to four days. It can be of great help.”

Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said, “We are monitoring the Phagwara Blood Bank case. As far as NAT testing is concerned, the issue will be taken up with the CMO on Monday. We are working to streamline the entire system.”

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