On Wednesday, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that the first experiment to use plasma therapy for treating a COVID-19 patient has been successful in Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital. He added that the second experiment will be conducted in the city's BYL Nair Hospital.
"The first plasma therapy has been successful in Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital. We are carrying out a second experiment on another patient in BYL Nair hospital, also in Mumbai. We are hopeful that it will be successful as well," said Tope.
Earlier, on Tuesday, The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had said that convalescent plasma therapy has several risks which includes life-threatening allergic reactions and lung injury.
The ICMR added that convalescent plasma therapy is one of the several emerging therapies. However, there is no robust evidence to support it for routine therapy.
The Ministry of Health had also said that there is no evidence that plasma therapy can be used for the treatment of the novel coronavirus disease. However, the Ministry added that the therapy is being experimented. Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health further said that till it's approved no one should use it, it will be harmful and illegal.
Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that the plasma therapy trials on four COVID-19 patients of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) hospital have given encouraging results. "The Central Government had given us permission only for limited trials of plasma therapy on serious patients at LNJP hospital. In the last few days, we have tried plasma therapy on four patients at LNJP hospital and till now the results are encouraging," said Kejriwal.
Meanwhile, India's total count of coronavirus cases surged to 31,787, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.
