Haryana to start plasma therapy for Covid-19 treatment

Convalescent plasma therapy involves transfusion of the blood plasma of a recovered patient into another patient. Plasma is the matrix on which the blood cells float. It also houses crucial components of immunity known as antibodies.

Antibodies are the immediate warriors who fight an invading pathogen – an antigen – to defeat it. Once that is done, some blood cells function as memory cells so that they can identify and defeat the same enemy if and when it invades again by quickly producing the same antibodies.

Recently, six patients had successfully undergone plasma therapy trials at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).

All of them have recovered and have been discharged. About two weeks back, Punjab too had successfully performed its first convalescent plasma therapy on a critically illcCovid-19 patient at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot.

Later, the government had claimed that the patient was gradually improving.

Meanehile, nine more people succumbed to Covid-19 while 381 more tested positive for the infection in Haryana, raising the death toll in the state to 232 and the total cases to 14,210.

Gurgaon, which has emerged as the worst-hit district in the state, reported six fatalities, while two persons died in Faridabad and Mahendragarh reported its first death, said the state’s Health Department daily bulletin.

Gurgaon and Faridabad now have total 90 and 75 Covid-19 related fatalities and these two districts together account for nearly 9,000 infections.

There are a total of 4,476 active cases in the state currently while 9,502 have been discharged after recovery. The state’s recovery rate on Monday stood at 66.87 per cent.