4 COVID-19 patients 'recover' after plasma therapy in Indore

Amid the ongoing debate in the medical fraternity about the efficacy of the plasma therapy on COVID-19 patients, a private hospital in Indore has claimed that four such persons recovered from the infection after undergoing this therapy.

A district health official confirmed that plasma therapy was used on some coronavirus positive persons at the privately-run Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences (SAIMS), and said that as per the doctors at that hospital it helped these patients in their recovery.

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Talking to PTI on Thursday, head of the Chest Disease Department at SAIMS, Dr Ravi Dosi, said that one of these four patients is a 26-year-old woman.

"According to the protocol set by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for the plasma therapy, we had started clinical trial on the woman and three male patients aged 23, 40 and 55 years from April 26. Now all four patients are free of COVID-19 infection," he said.

Consent was obtained from all four patients prior to the clinical trial of plasma therapy, he added.

Indore district's Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO), Praveen Jadia, said, "At SAIMS, the use of plasma therapy was done on some COVID-19 patients and according to the doctors there, it helped them in the recovery."

He said that plasma therapy would also be used on some coronavirus positive patients at a government-run hospital in Indore soon.

"We hope that it would help the patients in their recovery," Jadia added.

Convalescent plasma therapy involves injecting patients with plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 infection. The theory is that the plasma will have the antibodies required to boost a sick person's immunity response to the coronavirus.

Dosi said that after treatment and plasma therapy under the prescribed protocol, the repeat samples of four patients tested negative for COVID-19.

In addition, reports of the CT scan of their lungs also confirmed that they have been free of coronavirus infection, he added.

Dr Dosi, however, said, "We are not yet announcing any results regarding the effect of plasma therapy on COVID-19 patients. We want to try this clinical trial on a few more patients. We will share the results of clinical trial with the ICMR."

He also said that more than 30 people who were free from the infection after treatment have expressed their desire to become plasma donors.

The experts said that the antibodies develop in the blood of the people fully recovered from COVID-19, which help them to fight the disease in the future.

Indore is among the worst-hit districts by COVID-19 in the country.

As per the official information, 1,699 patients of this epidemic have been found in the district so far, of whom 83 people have died during treatment, while 595 others have been discharged from hospitals after recovery.