Bengaluru's second patient treated with plasma therapy recovers

Bengaluru: The city reported the first case of recovery of a Covid-19 patient who was administered convalescent plasma therapy at Victoria Hospital. The 38-year-old woman who was suffering from severe Covid symptoms was admitted to Victoria Hospital a few days ago. The patient was also diabetic. The team of doctors at the hospital with assistance from Dr US Vishal Rao, principal investigator of the clinical trial from HCG Hospital administered plasma treatment on the patient on May 27. This was done even as the patient was put on high flow nasal oxygen, antibiotics and Covid treatment.

“Since then there has been a steady improvement in her condition. The significant improvement in her clinical condition is reassuring and encouraging,” Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute Dean DR CR Jayanthi said. The doctors are now hoping for the patient to recover fully and get discharged. “We hope to see a complete recovery and will closely monitor the condition going forward to send the patient from ward to home,” Dr Vishal Rao said. Recovery of the patient may prompt doctors to take up more such plasma therapy trials.

In mid-May, the team of doctors had administered plasma transfusion on a 60-year-old Covid patient, but the patient did not survive. A few days later, doctors at the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubballi treated a 65-year-old man with plasma therapy, who survived and became Karnataka’s first successful case of plasma therapy. Plasma therapy involves taking antibodies from the plasma of a person who has recovered from Covid and transfusing those antibodies into a Covid patient to help build the immunity to fight disease.