COVID-19: Tirupati's SVIMS to offer plasma therapy soon

TIRUPATI: Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) will be starting plasma therapy soon. Now, it is collecting blood samples of patients who recovered from coronavirus. 

While three persons donated blood at SVIMS on Tuesday, five more from Kadapa came to the hospital on Wednesday for the purpose.

Sri Padmavathi Medical College Hospital (SPMC) of SVIMS, a designated State Covid-19 Hospital, has successfully treated 31 patients so far out of the total 56 cases from various districts referred to it.  

For voluntary donation of blood plasma, SVIMS authorities are contacting and counselling the patients who recovered from Covid-19. Patients need to be in two-week quarantine post discharge. Their swab samples need to be tested three times to call them totally recovered. After the due procedure only, their blood is collected. 

As part of the therapy, plasma of patients who have completely recovered from Covid-19, is used as it is rich in antibodies that help fight coronavirus. 

The collected blood plasma will be infused into critically ill patients, whose immune system cannot fight the virus, said SVIMS Director-cum-Vice-Chancellor Dr B Vengamma.

Blood samples of five recovered patients from Kadapa are now being tested for HIV and hepatitis. After the due procedure only, their blood samples will be collected. The procedure of collecting blood plasma from the patients recovered from Covid-19 takes two-and-a-half hours, she added.