A 23-year-old Smruti Thakkar, who recovered from coronavirus earlier this month, has decided to donate her blood plasma to the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Hospital in Ahmedabad so that could be used in the treatment of other patients.
Smruti Thakkar, the first donor in Gujarat whose blood will be used in Plasmatherapy for treatment of Covid19. A 23-year old girl from Naranpura, Smruti was recovered from Covid19 infection early this month after 15-day treatment at AMC run SVP hospitalpic.twitter.com/xRD6XG3eWN
— DeshGujarat (@DeshGujarat) April 18, 2020
ICMR approves permission
Earlier Principal Secretary of the Health Department, Jayanti Ravi, said, “We have learned that the ICMR has given approval to the Kerala government for such plasma transfusion treatment. From Gujarat, Ahmedabad civil hospital and SVP Hospital have sought ICMR’s permission to start this treatment for coronavirus patients,”
Health officials in the State informed that plasma transfusion can be used to boost the immunity of the critical Coronavirus patients by generating antibodies in the bodies. On Saturday, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) gave its nod to the two hospitals to run plasma therapy trials.
Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra thanked Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani for the intervention that helped SVP hospital get the required approval from the ICMR. He also informed that the donor had been identified and that the plasma donation process had been completed after the consent of the donor was obtained.
Thanks to intervention of Hon @CMOGuj @vijayrupanibjp we’ve got the nod from ICMR for starting #PlasmaTherapy at @svphospital
— Vijay Nehra (@vnehra) April 18, 2020
Donor identified✅
Consent Obtained✅
Donation Completed✅
Tests underway👍
Hope to start trials tmrw
Thank you #SmrutiThakkar & family pic.twitter.com/YYHFMGdoic
Reportedly, 6 such donors had been identified and 3 of them had completed the mandatory 14-day period, following recovery from the Wuhan Coronavirus. According to Jayanti Ravi, one blood plasma donation can be used in the treatment of 4 Coronavirus infected patients. This technique is a viable option for the treatment of critical patients in the absence of drugs and vaccines.
Thakkar had returned from Paris on 19th March and showed no symptoms for the virus but as precautionary measures she was home quarantined. A few days later she began showing symptoms for coronavirus. Upon being tested, she was found coronavirus positive. After being in hospital for 15 days, she has now fully recovered.
Gujarat fights coronavirus
City administration in Ahmedabad and Surat in Gujarat, in their daily coronavirus bulletin, have been giving out information of individuals who have been diagnosed with COVID-19. The Surat Municipal corporation has also been pinning residential details on maps so that people in the localities where there are coronavirus positive cases could be alert.
Similarly, Amdavad Municipal Corporation, too, has been giving out details of individuals who have been tested positive. While the corporation does not have an official map, Ahmedabad-based techies volunteered and have been pinning locations on Google based on the inputs provided by the corporation.
