Keral

Plasma therapy proves effective on COVID-19 patient

State’s first successful case at Thrissur MCH

Pointing to the effectiveness of convalescent plasma therapy on COVID-19 patients, a man who underwent the therapy at the Government Medical College Hospital here has been shifted from ventilator support to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

He would soon be shifted out of the ICU to a room as per the recommendation of the medical board, said M.A. Andrews, Principal, Government Medical College, Thrissur, on Friday. This was the first successful case of plasma therapy for COVID-19 in the State.

“The condition of the patient is improving. Currently he is in ICU. He will soon be shifted to the room as per the recommendation of the medical board. He was administered plasma in two batches,” said Dr. Andrews.

Though plasma therapy was tried on some other patients too, including former Santhosh Trophy player E. Hamsakoya, it was not effective on them.

The convalescent plasma therapy was done on the critically ill 51-year-old COVID-19 patient, who arrived from Delhi, on an experimental treatment basis, with plasma collected from a person who recovered from the viral infection.

Willingness

Many patients who recovered from COVID-19 had expressed willingness to donate plasma. The therapy was carried out by the Department of Transfusion Medicine and the Department of Anaesthesia.

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