Platelet resuscitation is not at all the need of dengue hour

IMA may ‘Correct’ Health Minister J.P. Nadda about Dengue

New Delhi, July 22: Union health minister J.P. Nadda’s emphasis on ‘platelet preparedness’ has raised IMA’s eyebrows.

IMA (Indian Medical Association) may ‘sensitize’ the minister about how to speak on dengue. IMA strongly feels that Mr. Nadda needs to know that platelet resuscitation has almost no role in the treatment of dreaded dengue disease.

Today, on the occasion of IMA going digital, the ‘faux pas’ of Mr. Nadda surfaced. In the light of this, IMA will hold a special press conference on dengue to put the record straight about the need of platelets in the treatment of dengue. IMA agrees that Mr. Nadda being overly concerned about platelet stock in the hospitals may trigger an unconscionable platelet trade.

With the onset of Monsoon, the dengue scare is reaching its crescendo with Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda telling government hospitals like All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Safdarjung Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital to be in full preparedness to tackle impending dengue menace. In doing this, he is especially instructing hospitals to keep enough stock of platelets. It is here that he contradicts IMA’s stance.

Dr. K.K. Aggarwal, IMA’s Secretary General, said, ‘I have not read what Mr. Nadda is speaking about platelet but if he is emphasizing need of platelets for the preparedness regarding impending dengue surge, he certainly needs to be corrected. Platelet resuscitation is rarely needed and only in case of patient actively bleeding. So there should almost be no concern regarding the stock of platelets in the hospitals. In dengue treatment, glucose resuscitation is what is of utmost importance.’

Elaborating further, Dr. Aggarwal said, ‘It took doctors over 10 years to understand that decreasing platelet count should be no cause of concern while treating dengue patients. Dengue was not taught to medical students. In the initial years of dengue arrival, doctors themselves felt scared about the depleting platelet count in dengue patients. Now, they know it for sure it should not be cause of concern even it touches the low of ten or two thousands. But the problem now is patients’ attendants themselves insist on platelet resuscitation. This perception about the need of the platelet resuscitation needs to be corrected.’

Through a decade of dengue dread, patients in Delhi have been fleeced in the name of platelets. For unethical practitioners, platelet count scare became a means of making money in the sickroom. People have to even cough up to one lakh rupees in the treatment of dengue. And all this happened because of unnecessary platelet replenishment.