The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has given in principle approval to the Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) hospital for performing plasma therapy in the patients of Covid-19. The GDMC hospital is the second facility in Uttarakhand after All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh where approval for treating Covid-19 patients by plasma therapy technique is given.
The Principal of GDMC, Dr Ashutosh Sayana told The Pioneer that the necessary equipment for the plasma therapy has been installed in the hospital. He said that ICMR has given its verbal approval for the technique and the written one would be received soon. Dr Sayana said that the many patients who have recovered from Covid-19 have been tested for presence of antibodies. He said that the hospital is in touch with a large number of recovered patients who can be potential donors. The donors should not have any comorbidity and in case of female patients they should not be pregnant.
The GDMC hospital had recently installed an Apheresis machine which is used to separate plasma from blood. By using the Apheresis technique the blood of a person is passed through an apparatus that separates out the plasma and returns the remainder to the circulation of the donor.
The immune system of Covid-19 patients develops antibodies to combat the invading virus. The plasma of these recovered patients contains antibodies for the virus which are used in plasma therapy. The plasma extracted from one patient can help in treatment of four patients. The plasma containing antibodies when introduced in the blood stream of a new patient helps in fighting the virus.