By Gail Momblan/Philippine News Agency
ILOILO CITY — The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) in Iloilo has encouraged Ilonggos to continue to participate in blood donation activities to respond to the needs of dengue patients.
Dr. Dennis Roy Pasadillas, manager of the West Visayas Regional Blood Center of PRC, said Thursday that Ilonggos heed the call for blood donations since the dengue outbreak was declared in Iloilo on July 5.
“We can say that we (have) enough blood supply because different blood donations were conducted in different parts of the province. We hope that Ilonggos can sustain our blood donation efforts,” he said.
Pasadillas said available at their blood supply were 356 units of blood Type O, 268 units of Type A, 250 units of Type B, and 125 units of Type AB.
The West Visayas Regional Blood Center received a request of 214 blood units on Thursday. He said the center has not yet segregated which of those requests were for dengue patients.
Dengue patients mostly requested for fresh frozen plasma and platelet concentrate component, he said.
“The requests were mostly from the Iloilo Provincial Hospital in Pototan town, and most (of them) requested for blood Type O,” Pasadillas said but was unable to provide figures.
He noted that not all dengue cases require blood transfusion. “It depends on the immune system of the patient. If the disease is detected early, the patient needs hydration and his or her platelet concentrate will rise,” he said.
However, there are critical cases where a dengue patient already experiences leakage on the blood vessel and thus needs blood transfusion. Severe situations like this require units of fresh frozen plasma and platelet concentrate.
“Maximum request we received so far is the request for five units of fresh frozen plasma and six units of plasma concentrate,” he said, noting that the West Visayas Regional Blood Center could still meet the requests.
“But sometimes, there are requests for, say, five units of fresh frozen plasma and we can give only three units for a day. The patient’s family member comes back the next day to get the two units,” he said.
Patients from Iloilo need not pay for blood as the provincial government already shoulders the processing fee.
Family members requesting blood need to secure a blood request and referral from the Iloilo Provincial Capitol to get blood units for free, he said.
The PRC conducts two to three mobile blood donation drives in different parts of the province daily, he said.
On Friday, a private organization conducted a blood donation drive in a mall in this city, while the Fort San Pedro National High School also conducted the same.
The PRC blood center also accepts walk-in donors at the Iloilo Red Cross Chapter, Bonifacio Drive in this city from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Sunday.
Qualified donors should have enough rest and sleep, no alcohol intake 24 hours prior to the blood donation, no medication for at least 24 hours prior to blood donation, have something to eat prior to blood donation, and have to drink plenty of fluids.
Data from the Department of Health – Center for Health Development in Western Visayas showed that as of July 19, the region has had 18,834 dengue cases with 94 deaths.
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