‘Plasma therapy brings relief to Covid patients in Odisha’

BHUBANESWAR: Plasma therapy has started showing encouraging results on Covid-19 patients in Odisha, official sources said. Four of the six patients, who underwent the therapy, are showing improvement in their health condition, and will be discharged soon. Doctors said the condition of the other two is also stable.
The information and public relations department tweeted, “Plasma therapy has brought a great relief to the serious Covid-19 patients in the state. Of the six critical patients under plasma therapy, four are responding very well. The other two are in a stable condition and are expected to recover soon.”
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik lauded the NDRF and Odisha fire services personnel for coming forward to donate plasma for the treatment of serious patients. “This gesture will inspire other Covid patients to donate blood after recovery and help save precious lives,” Naveen tweeted.
As part of the therapy, the plasma of a recovered Covid patient is transfused into another patient to build a strong response against the virus. Of the eight units of plasma collected from four patients, who were cured of the life-threatening virus, six were used. Of the six patients, four are undergoing treatment at SUM Covid Hospital in Bhubaneswar and two are at Ashwini Covid Hospital in Cuttack.
“The four Covid patients, who have received plasma therapy, were with moderate to serious conditions. Three of them were on non-invasive ventilation for 24 hours, following which they were kept on oxygen support and slowly two of them were out of oxygen support and shifted to the normal ward. One is on oxygen support and his condition is improving,” Dr Chandan Das, head of the plasma therapy unit and HOD of the transfusion medicine at SUM Covid Hospital, said. The fourth patient is on ventilator and her condition has marginally improved but is still critical. It is too early to draw any conclusion about the plasma therapy in the state, he added.
“Similarly, of the two patients undergoing plasma therapy treatment in Ashiwini Hospital, one is out of oxygen support and is likely to be discharged in the next couple of days. The other patient is on ventilation and is showing some improvement,” Dr Jayant Panda, technical spokesperson for the health department, said.
Meanwhile, doctors said more and more patients who have been cured of Covid have been requested to donate their plasma and some people have shown interest in doing so. This apart, as many as 80 NDRF and fire services personnel, who contracted the disease during the post-Amphan duty in West Bengal, are eligible for donating their plasma.
“A Covid patient will be eligible for plasma donation after 28 days of testing negative. The donor must be 18 to 60 years of age and not weigh less than 55kg. The donor should also not have comorbidities like cancer, diabetes, hypertension, cardiac problem,” Das said.
The SCB Medical College and Hospital has been recognised as the nodal centre for a plasma bank where at least 1,000 units of plasma can be stored. “We have another eight persons ready for donating plasma for now. We can keep at least 100 units of different blood groups in our bank,” Dr Panda said.
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