(Image source from: economictimes.indiatimes.com)

With the world trying to look for more possible treatments for covid-19, the Max Hospital in Saket has administered plasma therapy on a critical coronavirus patient and the same is showing positive result as the patient has been taken off of the ventilator.

The 49-year old patient is the first who has been administered with this form of treatment at the east wing of the Max Hospital, as reported by the hospital authorities.

According to the convalescent plasma therapy, the antibodies of a Covid-19 recovered patient are being taken and transfused into the infected individual to help improve their immune response to the virus.

The patient who hails from Delhi tested positive for the virus on April 04 and was later admitted to the hospital on the same day to the coronavirus unit at the Max Hospital in Saket. He was admitted with moderate symptoms and a history of fever.

In the testament released by the hospital, the authorities stated saying, “His condition deteriorated during the next few days and he soon required external oxygen to maintain saturation. He also developed pneumonia with Type I respiratory failure and had to be put on ventilator support on April 8.”

With little to no signs of improvement in the patient, his family members urged the doctors to try out plasma therapy to see if it helps bolster his immune system back on track. This was the first of its kind treatment modality that was being done in India on a Covid-19 patient.

The hospital further reported that the family came forth with a donor for extracting their plasma. The donor has recently recovered from the infection around three weeks ago and tested negative for the virus during the time of plasma donation. He was also tested for some of the other complications like Hep B, Hep C and HIV.

Following the clean reports from the donor, the critically ill Covid-19 patient was administered with the fresh plasma of the donor alongside all the standard treatment that was being conducted on him. The process happened on April 14.

Sandeep Budhiraja, Group Medical Director, Max Healthcare, and Senior Director, Institute of Internal Medicine was elated about the success of the plasma therapy and said that this opens up a new form of treatment and hope for the patients who are critically ill because of the novel coronavirus.

Budhiraja said that he is happy that the treatment worked wonders for the patient. But, he also clarified saying that the plasma therapy is not the magical treatment for this condition. He said that all the standard treatment procedures were being done during the patient’s recovery and it is likely that the plasma therapy acted as a catalyst for the treatment.

He also mentioned that the recovery of the patient can’t be attributed 100% to the plasma therapy.

He believes in a country like India, something like plasma therapy can come in handy and will have a good potential to help with the recovery of the covid-19 patients.

“Government regulations should work towards making it more accessible for hospitals across the country to be able to use it. One donor can donate 400 ml of plasma which can save two lives, as 200 ml is sufficient to treat one patient,” Budhiaraja mentioned.

By Somapika Dutta