Rising Covid toll: Kerala to try plasma therapy

Thiruvananthapuram:  In the face of rising toll, the state issued guidelines for convalescent plasma therapy, to be administered on critically ill patients.

Plasma would be collected only from recovered patients aged above 18. Patients in critical condition would be given the therapy.

Patients with breathing difficulties and the condition where infection spread all over the body causing dangerously low blood pressure, patients with multiple organ failure can receive the therapy.

Only patients aged above 18 would be given the treatment, after obtaining consent from either the patient or a relative.

The protocol also says that therapy would be given only with consent from hospital medical board and ethical committee.

200ml plasma will be collected from a donor and in case requiring more can be collected after two weeks only with the donor’s consent.  

Do not collect more than 500ml plasma from the same donor. And donor’s health ought to be screened.