GMERS Hospital in Gotri gets ICMR nod for plasma therapy

Vadodara: GMERS Medical College and Hospital, Gotri has been given the go-ahead by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) to start convalescent plasma therapy for Covid-19 patients.
Convalescent plasma therapy involves taking antibodies from cured Covid-19 patients and injecting them in the blood of patients suffering from coronavirus.
The transfusion of plasma is carried out through a machine which separates plasma from the donor’s blood, which is then retransferred into the donor. The plasmas thus obtained is injected into patients infected with Covid to help them fight off the virus.
A donor supplies 300-500 ml of plasma and the transfusion process takes between 60-90 minutes.
Several hospitals across the country have been given permission to conduct the trials to assess the safety and efficacy of this therapy, which has shown some promise in treating moderate to severe cases of coronavirus infection across the world.
The trials will start at GMERS Medical College and Hospital, Gotri with the support of Indu Blood Bank. While the project will be handled by Dr Varsha Godbole, professor of medicine and dean of the college as the principal investigator, Dr Vijay Shah will be its co-investigator.
Delhi-based Vipul Patel, who was one of the two first patients to be admitted and later discharged from Gotri hospital, has also shown his readiness to become a donor for the placid trail.
Patel had come to Vadodara along with his UK-based friend Nikhil Patel for dialysis and treatment of kidney-related ailments through ayurveda at the Indu Ayurveda Hospital. Later, Nikhil developed Covid symptoms and tested positive of the virus. After treatment at Gotri hospital, both of them had fully recovered and were discharged.