Gzb seeks nod for plasma therapy in critical cases

Ghaziabad: The district is expected to start plasma therapy for critical Covid-19 patients soon and has sent a letter in this regard to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) seeking approval.
The administration has directed the health department to prepare a list of all willing donors at the time of discharge from Covid hospitals. A senior health official has been made the nodal officer to identify the hospitals – both government and private — where this facility can be started.
TOI had reported on June 1 that the district was considering starting plasma therapy trials.
In plasma therapy, plasma with antibodies obtained from the blood of recovered patients is transfused to Covid-19 patients. Upon transfusion, the antibodies bind to specific antigens, recognised by the body as alien, and destroy them.
The therapy has been tried in the past to treat Ebola, SARS and MERS.
According to the protocol approved by the Drugs Controller General of India for this trial, plasma will be collected from recovered individuals if they are eligible to donate blood after 28 days of being free of any symptoms.
District magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey said, “All Covid-19 hospitals have been direct to list the names of willing Covid patients at the time of discharge for plasma donation in accordance with the ICMR guidelines. At the time of discharge, hospitals will take the relevant details, like blood group, existing health issues, besides filling up a consent form to donate plasma. Moreover, details like whether they were symptomatic or asymptomatic and where they were treated (L1, 2 or 3 hospital) will also be mentioned.”
On the very first day of the initiative, Pandey added, seven people have already given their consent. “I spoke to several recovered patients and urged them to donate their plasma,” he said.
According to the health department officials, encouraging results have been reported from several states where plasma therapy is being used for the treatment of some serious Covid-19 patients.
Among Ghaziabad’s neighbours, Delhi and Gautam Budh Nagar have been using the treatment.
In Noida, a centre for plasma therapy was inaugurated at GIMS on May 11.
Subsequently, a 65-year-old woman, who was the first Covid-19 patient in a Noida hospital to be administered convalescent plasma therapy, made a full recovery and returned home.
She was among the more critical patients to be admitted and was on oxygen support.