Justice K S Hegde Charitable hospital became the first hospital in Coastal Karnataka to receive permission for setting up convalescent plasma therapy for Covid-19 positive patients.
The DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India) after being satisfied with facilities like the well equipped Blood Bank with component and single donor platelet facility issued licence for plasmapheresis. The Blood Bank has `Apheresis' equipment, testing facilities and trained personnel to carry out the plasmapheresis procedure. With this, the hospital has all facilities to treat Covid-19 patients including Convalescent Covid-19 plasma therapy.
“On first day itself, we harvested convalescent plasma from three donors and transfused to covid patients,” Medical superintendent of the hospital informed. Nitte University Blood Bank is the only Blood Bank which has the licence in Coastal Karnataka to carry out plasmapheresis (Convalescent Covid-19 plasma). The Covid-19 recovered, who are above 18 years, all men and nulliparous women can donate plasma.
The recovered can donate plasma after 28 days of discharge. Convalescent Covid 19 plasma therapy is a novel treatment to fight coronavirus. Plasma therapy uses antibodies from the blood of a recovered Covid-19 person to treat patients who are critically infected by the virus, sources told DH.