Vadodara patient beats Covid-19 with plasma therapy

VADODARA: A 45-year-old man has become the first Covid-19 patient in the city to recover from the infection using convalescent plasma therapy.
The therapy was given to Ashwin Rana, a resident of Waghodiya Road, who was admitted in ICU and was on oxygen support at GMERS Medical College and Hospital, Gotri.
Rana had been battling Covid infection since May 11 when he tested positive.
The therapy involves taking antibodies from cured Covid-19 patients and injecting them in the blood of infected patients.
Although he was given conventional treatment for 10 days, the second test of his samples also tested positive. Later, he was shifted to ICU and provided oxygen support.
After the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) permitted the hospital and Indu Blood Bank to start placid trials, Kenya-born Delhi-based UK passport holder Vipul Patel had donated his plasma for convalescent plasma therapy, becoming the first such donor in Central Gujarat.
Patel, 58, who was amongst first Covid-19 patients admitted at Gotri hospital, had expressed his willingness to become a donor after he got discharged on April 10.
“We had carried out two plasma transfusions on May 21 and May 22. Rana started showing recovery and was later shifted to a normal room from the ICU,” said Dr Vijay Shah, co-investigator of the project.
On June 10, Rana was discharged from the hospital.
“As per the protocol, he stayed 14 days in home isolation. There are five members in his family but none of them have got infected. The patient too has fully recovered. We will submit our report to ICMR,” said Shah, who appealed to patients who recover from Covid-19 to donate their plasma.