New Delhi: Max Hospital in Saket said that a critical coronavirus patient is responding well to plasma therapy. The hospital said Monday that the patient has been taken off ventilator support.
What is plasma therapy
The 49-year-old man became the first patient to be administered plasma therapy in the national capital.
In convalescent plasma therapy, the antibodies of a person who has recovered from the virus are taken and transfused into a sick person (having the virus). It helps to help boost the person’s immune system.
Condition of the patient
The patient from here had tested positive April 4 for COVID-19’ He was admitted on the same day to the coronavirus facility at the Max Hospital. He had moderate symptoms and a history of fever and respiratory issues.
“His condition deteriorated during the next few days and he soon required external oxygen to maintain saturation. The man also developed pneumonia with Type I respiratory failure. Then he had to be put on ventilator support April 8,” the hospital said.
Patient recovers
When the patient showed no improvement, his family members requested the hospital to administer plasma therapy.
“The family came forward to arrange a donor for extracting plasma. The donor had recovered from the infection (confirmed by two consecutive negative reports) three weeks ago. The donor again tested COVID-19 negative at the time of donation along with other standard tests,” the hospital said.
The critically ill patient was administered fresh plasma as a treatment modality on the night of April 14.
“After receiving the treatment, the patient showed progressive improvement and by the fourth day. He was taken off the ventilator support on the morning of April 18,” the hospital added.
The hospital said the man has been shifted to a room with round-the-clock monitoring facility. “He has started taking oral feed since Sunday and is faring well,” it said.
So far, 47 people have lost their lives due to coronavirus in Delhi.
IANS