Delhi to use plasma technique for critical COVID-19 patients; Lt Guv urges to follow SOPs

In the thick of Coronavirus, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal on Wednesday informed that the national capital will use plasma technique on a trial basis to save the life of critical COVID-19 patients. Plasma Therapy is basically taking out a component of blood from patients who have recovered from Coronavirus and giving it to a patient infected with COVID-19. When you contract any infection, the body fights back by producing certain antibodies - neutralising the effect of the virus. There are several types of antibodies and hence there need to be tested to identify the type.

Taking to Twitter, Anil Baijal also advised everyone to follow guidelines and protocols issued by the Health Ministry while dealing with critical Coronavirus patients. Meanwhile, Delhi has reported over 1510 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Out of which, 30 people have been cured and 28 deaths have been reported. 

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Delhi AIIMS director Dr. Randeep Guleria explains Convalescent Plasma Therapy

Dr. Randeep Guleria, the director of AIIMS, Delhi explained the contours of the convalescent plasma therapy in the context of tackling COVID-19 on Sunday. According to him, the antibodies created to fight the infection remains in a person's blood even after his recovery from the novel Coronavirus. If such an individual donates blood, the plasma which has a high concentration of the antibodies can be transfused to a COVID-19 patient. This would help boost the immune system of the latter.

At the same time, he acknowledged that there were only a few cases where this therapy had been used. Dr.Guleria noted that there was a plan to commence the clinical trial in this regard at AIIMS soon. He argued that it could be used to treat a large number of patients if the data showcased its usefulness. 

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