In a first for Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow's KGMU has started Plasma Therapy for COVID-19 patients

The Uttar Pradesh government has put plasma therapy into practice to treat COVID-19 patients in the state and now, UP has become the third state to do so after Delhi and Kerala. KGMU hospital in Lucknow is the first medical facility in the state to start off with this process to contain the virus and the plasma donations have been carried out by two recovered patients on Saturday.

What's the News?

The plasma therapy is aimed at providing a jump-start to a patient's immunity by infusing a certain quantity of the blood plasma of a person who has already recovered from the disease. This therapy uses antibodies found in the blood of people who have recovered from the infection to treat infected patients.

According to reports, a COVID-19 patient in Delhi who had been put under this therapy, has shown positive results with 'marked' improvement in his health conditions and he was also taken off the ventilator support as well. One donor plasma can help two patients at the same time and these reports have encouraged other states to follow suit.

In Lucknow, one of the two initial donors is Tauseef Khan in his late 20s, a resident doctor at KGMU who has recently successfully battled against COVID-19 after contracting it from a patient at the hospital. The other contributor is Uma Shankar Pandey, a native of Lakhimpur.

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