By Ishwar Chandra Jha, Kathmandu, Aug. 2: Use of plasma therapy for the treatment of a COVID-19 patient has resulted in improvement in the health condition of the patient. It is the first time that plasma therapy has been used for treatment of COVID-19 patient in Nepal.

With the successful trial of plasma therapy in a critical patient of COVID-19, who hailed from Biratnagar and was admitted at the ICU in TU Teaching Hospital, the hospital has started treatment of another patient with the same method, plasma therapy.  

Dr. Sanat Kumar Das, coordinator of COVID-19 management in TUTH, informed that a patient admitted to TUTH on Thursday was administered plasma therapy and the patient recovered 70 per cent of the infection within 48 hours.

Plasma therapy is said to be helpful for patient whose health conditions has become critical due to decreased level of oxygen in the body and needs ventilator.

Plasma therapy is treatment method wherein blood plasma of a recovered COVID-19 patient is transfused to the patient so as to enable the patient fight back the disease. Both the donor and receiver of plasma should be of the same blood group.

TUTH had urged Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC) to provide donor for plasma therapy.

The NHRC provided the TUTH a donor on Thursday which made both the therapy possible and successful, according to Dr. Das.

He said that preparations were made to take out the COVID-19 patient who got plasma therapy and recovered about 70 per cent from the ICU. The patient needed about 90 per cent of oxygen at the time of admitting to the hospital while the patient needs only 24 per cent oxygen now after the therapy, said Dr. Das.

Dr. Das expressed confidence in improvement of health condition of the second patient who also received plasma therapy in the TUTH after the success of the first trial.

Plasma therapy costs about Rs. five thousand. However, at present, the government bears all the cost of COVID-19 treatment.