Berhampur: Plans are afoot for starting plasma therapy procedure for the treatment of critical COVID-19 patients at MKCG Medical College and Hospital here or Tata COVID Hospital at Sitalapalli.
Though no official announcement have been made so far, former Vice-Chancellor of Berhampur University Jayant Mohapatra, after attending a meeting hosted by Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) Commissioner Chakravorty Singh Rathore, said that it may soon become a reality.
The meeting via video conferencing was convened by the BeMC to inform the intellectuals about the steps being taken to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Berhampur.
Mohapatra requested the commissioner to prepare a database of all COVID-19 recovered cases and motivate them to donate plasma.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Bhrugu Baxipatra said that plasma therapy should be introduced in Ganjam as plenty of donors would be available from this district. Of 12453 COVID-19 recovered cases, 3,753 are from Ganjam, he added.
Convalescent plasma therapy is a procedure which involves the use of antibodies from the blood of patients who have recovered from COVID-19 to treat other infected people.
The service is currently available in SUM Hospital and KIIMS Hospital in Bhubaneswar and Ashwini Hospital in Cuttack while the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack has been designated as a nodal centre.
Also Read: Plasma Therapy In 3 Odisha Hospitals From Tomorrow; Know What The Procedure Is All About
Four of the six critical COVID-19 patients have undergone plasma therapy, which began in Odisha on July 15. They are responding well to the treatment and are no longer on oxygen support, official sources said.
Also Read: Plasma Therapy In Odisha: Four Of 6 COVID-19 Patients Show Signs Of Recovery