Coronavirus in Delhi: COVID-19 patient shows signs of recovery after plasma therapy

The first patient who was administered the convalescent plasma therapy at Max Hospital, Saket has again been put on ventilator support even as he showed some signs of recovery after the treatment. The 49 year-old man from Delhi had tested positive for novel coronavirus on April 4 and was admitted to the hospital with moderate symptoms and a history of fever and respiratory issues the same day. However, his condition worsened over the next few days and he developed pneumonia with type-1 respiratory failure and had to be placed on ventilator support on April 8.

When the patient did not show any signs of improvement, the family members requested the hospital to administer plasma therapy on compassionate grounds. According to hospital sources, the family had arranged a donor who had recovered from coronavirus infection. Patients who have fully recovered from COVID-19 for at least 2 weeks are encouraged to donate plasma, which may help save lives of patients who are critical.

According to an IANS report, the donor had recovered from COVID-19 three weeks ago and tested coronavirus negative at the time of donation along with other tests to rule out conditions like Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B and HIV. Fresh plasma was administered to the critically ill patient as a treatment modality on the night of April 14. After undergoing the plasma treatment, the patient showed improvement and by the fourth day, he was put off ventilator support on the morning of April 18 and continued on supplementary oxygen afterwards.

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