New Delhi: In an attempt to help people in fighting coronavirus, the Delhi government on Monday announced setting up of a plasma bank in the national capital. It is likely to be the first plasma bank in the country. The total number of cases has crossed 83,000 mark in Delhi.
Plasma therapy is considered effective for people struggling to cope with coronavirus. It involves injection of blood-component plasma extracted from a cured patient to a positive coronavirus case.
The plasma extracted from a cured patient is considered to be having virus fighting antibodies. It strengthens the immunity of the person getting the plasma.
The plasma bank will be set up at Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) hospital in South Delhi. The services can be extended to both government and private hospitals. Patients admitted to these hospitals can get the plasma on recommendation of the doctor.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a press briefing said that the plasma bank has been set up seeing the high demand for it in the national capital. He said that they were the first ones who started the plasma therapy trials around two months ago.
In the first phase, we conducted plasma trials on 29 patients (in Lok Nayak hospital). The results are good. It has been observed that plasma therapy helps stabilise respiratory rate of moderate to severe patients and it can save lives. But it cannot save patients with multi-organ failures, those in extremely severe conditions,” said Kejriwal.
