Plasma therapy has been applied in the treatment of a COVID19 positive patient, admitted to a Delhi hospital, for the first time in India.
The patient, who underwent convalescent plasma therapy at Max Hospital in Delhi’s Saket, has responded well to the treatment, the hospital said in a statement.
The 49-year-old man, a resident of Defence Colony in Delhi, tested positive for COVID19 on April 4.
The hospital said the patient has shown “progressive improvement” following the treatment.
The hospital authority on Monday said: “He was weaned off ventilator support on April 18. He has been shifted to a room with round-the-clock monitoring at present.”
“He has started taking oral feed since Sunday and is faring well,” the hospital further said.
A media report quoted Sandeep Budhiraja, group medical director of Max Healthcare as saying that the plasma therapy worked as a catalyst in speeding up the recovery of the COVID19 patient.
However, Budhiraja said the recovery cannot be completely attributed to the new therapy used in the treatment of the patient.
The report also quoted Butharia as saying: “We are delighted that the therapy worked well in his case, opening a new treatment opportunity during these challenging times.”
“But it is important that we also understand that plasma therapy is no magic bullet,” said Budharia, who is also the senior director of Institute of Internal Medicine.
“During the patient’s treatment at Max Hospital, Saket, other standard treatment protocols were followed and we can say that plasma therapy could have worked as a catalyst in speeding up his recovery,” he added.
“We cannot attribute 100% recovery to plasma therapy only, as there are multiple factors which carved his path to recovery,” Budharia further said.
Reports said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has received 99 applications from institutes seeking participation in a randomised controlled study to assess the safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma to limit complications associated with COVID19.