Mumbai: Days after a 53-year-old patient was given the first round of convalescent plasma therapy at Lilavati Hospital, another patient at SevenHills Hospital was supposed to receive it on Monday was halted due mismatch of blood group.
“Units of plasma were reserved for two patients in Seven Hills Hospital. However, they were not given the plasma due to a mismatch in the blood group,” said doctors.
The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation is following in the footsteps of Kerala, which was the first state to explore this avenue of treatment, followed by New Delhi. Convalescent plasma therapy involves patients receiving a plasma transfusion from those having recovered from the infection.
Dr Mohan Joshi, in-charge of SevenHills Hospital, said a patient had been administered plasma on Sunday and their health was being monitored and if necessary, a second round of therapy could be provided.
“It is too early to comment on the patient's improvement as we have just completed the first round of therapy,” he said. " To obtain plasma for the treatment of patients in serious condition, we are contacting those who have recovered from the disease and motivating them to donate plasma," Dr Joshi said.
Dr V Ravishankar, chief operating officer, Lilavati Hospital, said they were supposed to give a second dose of plasma therapy to the patient, but "since his condition was not good, we have postponed the dose. The patient was critical from the beginning, so we have given him antibiotics.
If his health improves, then we will give him two more transfusions in the next two days,” he said. However, plasma therapy for coronavirus is still in the experimental stage and can even prove 'life-threatening' for a patient, the government said on Tuesday, amid a surge of hope brought on by the first successful test in Delhi.
There is "no concrete evidence to support plasma therapy as coronavirus treatment," said senior health ministry official Lav Agarwal during the ministry's daily briefing. "The therapy is still in an experimental stage and the Indian Council of Medical Research is conducting a national study on it. It can even be life-threatening if not carefully done," he added
