Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Thursday commenced plasma therapy for the treatment of COVID- 19 patients at a hospital in Cuttack, an official said.
The procedure was conducted on a 48-year-old patient at the Ashwini Hospital for the first time in the state, technical advisor to the health department Dr Jayant Panda said.
“The patient has been administered B-positive plasma,” he said.
The state government had earlier announced that the plasma therapy would also be introduced in the SUM Hospital and the Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences in Bhubaneswar.
In the plasma therapy, antibodies from blood of patients, who have recovered from coronavirus disease, are used to treat infected people.
It is aimed at assessing the efficacy of convalescent plasma to limit complications of COVID-19 patients.
Meanwhile, a plasma bank has started functioning at the SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack from Wednesday, a health department official said.
“Four persons, including a doctor, who had recovered from COVID-19, have donated their plasma at the facility,” he said.
According to sources, 300 more people, who were cured of the disease, have come forward to donate their plasma.
BJD’s Salipur MLA Prasant Behera was among them, they said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had on Wednesday appealed to people who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their plasma for treatment of critical patients.
He also said the plasma therapy would be made available free of cost to the people.
Meanwhile, BJP’s Nilgiri MLA Sukanta Kumar Nayak has also recovered from the disease, the official added.