A 40-year-old man, who has already recovered from COVID-19, is likely to be the first plasma donor in Karnataka. Convalescent Plasma Therapy is touted to be a potential cure for COVID-19. It is a procedure in which, plasma from a patient who has recovered from COVID-19 is transmitted to a patient who is still suffering from the infection.
Plasma Therapy trials being conducted across the country
With the procedure giving encouraging results across the world, Plasma Therapy trials are being carried out in various parts of India. While in Maharashtra & Delhi, the procedure is finding momentum with respect to the trials, Karnataka is said to be the latest entrant to the list.
Clinical trials of plasma therapy, approved by the Drug Controller General of India, were launched at the Bengaluru Medical College and Research Institute on Saturday. The trials are in collaboration with city-based HCG Private Ltd.
40-year-old man to be the first donor in the state
An HR professional from Kerala working in Dubai, the 40-year-old was home quarantined after he returned to India on March 20th. Regarding his willingness to donate plasma, he said: “I read about plasma therapy and learned that HCG was applying to conduct clinical trials. I connected with Dr. Vishal Rao, the principal investigator. I’ll do anything needed to help patients.“
A few other patients have also come forward to donate plasma in the state. At the launch of the project in Karnataka, Health Minister B Sriramulu and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar urged more recovered patients to come forward for plasma donation.
Pre-Donation Checks
Pre-donation checks would be done for a recovered patient before plasma is extracted from his body. Routine blood test and Haemoglobin Estimation would be done for the donor at the beginning. Next, the blood is checked for infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Syphilis, and other locally transmitted infections. Further, Immunity measurement is done by checking total SARS-CoV2 antibodies and SARS-CoV2 neutralizing antibodies.
Source: Times of India
