Friday, 14 May 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh has treated 146 Covid patients with convalescent Plasma therapy. The director of AIIMS Rishikesh, Dr Ravikant said that the convalescent plasma works by providing antibodies and it neutralizes the virus in infected individuals. He said that when a person becomes infected with a microbe, his body’s immune system works to produce antibodies to fight against it. These antibodies are present in the blood plasma and increase their numbers towards recovery from the disease. This causes the virus to end quickly.
The Head of Department (HoD) of Transfusion medicine and Blood Bank Dr Gita Negi said that Covid 19 infected persons can donate plasma after fully recovering from the disease. “Plasma is collected after extracting blood from the donor’s body by aphaeresis technique. Plasma can also be taken with normal blood donation if aphaeresis is not facilitated,’’ she said. Dr Negi added that this therapy is useful if it is used within seven days of onset of Covid symptoms.
