COVID-19: Plasma therapy officially starts at Guwahati's GMCH

Guwahati: In yet another historic step, the Assam health department on Thursday began plasma therapy treatment at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in the capital city of the state amid a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases.

"We have created history at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). We have begun the first plasma therapy session. The plasma donated by Dr. Lithikesh, the first donor, has been administered to a critical patient here. He is in a very bad condition, but God willing, his condition will improve with this treatment", said the state's health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who had gone to the GMCH to take stock of the situation.

A COVID-19 positive doctor, Lithikesh, became the first donor of Plasma Bank was set up at the GMCH in the wake of the steady and alarming rise in Covid-19 cases in Assam. "Glad to share that we've started a Plasma Bank at GMCH. The first convalescent donor is a doctor himself, a COVID-19 patient. My gratitude to Dr. Lithikesh for donating his plasma, and to the team who is working on this bank. I encourage cured patients to come forward and donate", Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced in a July 3 tweet.

Days earlier, Sarma had said that the state is ready to begin plasma therapy for people scouting for convalescent plasma for their friends and family. Recently, the state's health department held talks with Delhi's Max hospital for taking the hospital's help in setting up a plasma bank for the benefit of COVID-19 patients.

In this particular therapy, doctors transfuse convalescent plasma from someone who has recovered from COVID-19 into patients who are sick. Convalescent plasma is the liquid part of the blood from people who've recovered from COVID-19. The idea behind this principle is that recovered COVID-19 patients' plasma contains antibodies that might help fight the virus.

Notably, the plasma bank at the GMCH is the second plasma bank in the country. India's first plasma bank was inaugurated on June 25 in New Delhi, one of the COVID-19 hotspots in the country.

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