Agra Covid-19 patient recovers after plasma from Child PGI

NOIDA: The Super Speciality Paediatric Hospital & Post Graduate Teaching Institute (SSPHPGTI) or Child PGI is aggressively promoting convalescent plasma therapy for Covid patients.
After signing a MoU with SN Medical College (SNMC), Agra, on June 20, Child PGI has so far sent two units of plasma to the hospital and a patient has also recovered there. It has also sent three units to ESIC Medical College and Hospital, Faridabad, under the ICMR clinical trial.
While the units were transported under a recommended cold chain management process by the recipient institutes, the hospital said that problems persist as only a limited number of recovered people are coming forward to donate plasma.
Child PGI director Dr DK Gupta said ICMR has authorised the institute for plasma use in SSPHPGTI, Agra, Meerut and elsewhere. "We have already collected and provided plasma to three patients outside the district, including one from a different state,” he said, adding that following the signing of the MoU, recovered people from SNMC came to Noida and donated their blood plasma at the transfusion medicine department of Child PGI.
However, even as the hospital is trying to create a plasma bank, it’s facing challenges in finding donors. “Not many people are open to the idea of donating blood plasma. Also, only 10% of the recovered patients are eligible for the process,” he said.
The Government Institute of Medical Sciences in Greater Noida is the only other Covid hospital in the district to have successful conducted convalescent plasma treatment on Covid patients.