By Gilda V. Llames

Bataan (6 October) -- The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) in Bataan has enough stocks of blood, including frozen plasma, in the event of an alarming dengue outbreak in the province.

Junilene E. Viesca, PNRC administrator, said that the agency's blood bank is ready to respond to a step-up demand if the situation so warrants. Blood transfusion is a major component of dengue cure.

Dengue fever is currently plaguing several parts of the country, specifically Luzon and Metro Manila. In Bataan, the PNRC served a total of 133 dengue patients from January to September this year and for September alone, the agency served a total of 25 dengue patients.

Viesca attributes the ample supply of blood at PNRC's local bank to the many kind-hearted donors and to the agency's continuous blood-letting activities.

On September 28, the National Food Authority will be celebrating its 34th year anniversary and to mark the event in Bataan, officials and employees will be donating their blood to the PNRC, Viesca said.

Meanwhile, Viesca announced that effective last September 15, the PNRC's blood processing fees had been increased.

The price increase, she pointed out, is necessary so that PNRC could cope up with the skyrocketing prices of medicines or reagents that are used to ensure the high quality and safety of said products.

The following are the new blood processing fees: whole blood (350cc), P800 for government pay hospitals; P700 for government charity hospitals and P1,350 for private hospitals. For whole blood (500cc), the prices are: P1,000 ; P800 and P1,500, respectively.

For packed red blood cells(RBC), the prices are: P900; P800 and P1,100 for government pay hospitals, government charity hospitals and private hospitals, respectively and for frozen plasma, the prices are: P600; P500 and P700.