Patna man is Bihar’s first plasma donor

PATNA: Thirty-two-year-old Deepak Kumar, a Covid-19 survivor, has become the first person to donate plasma in the state. Kumar donated his plasma at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-Patna on Friday. AIIMS-P had received a nod from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct convalescent plasma therapy to treat seriously ill Covid patients in the last week of April.
Deepak, a resident of Khajpura, was tested positive for Covid-19 on April 22.He was discharged from Nalanda Medical College and Hospital on May 7. Deepak, an operations executive at a private firm in the city, who voluntarily donated his plasma, said he is a regular blood donor. “I know how one feels after contracting the virus. Hence, I decided to help Covid-19 patients after recovering from the disease,” he said.
Convalescent plasma therapy, according to doctors, is based on the concept of passive immunity, where antibodies of some disease developed in a person are used for treating others.
AIIMS-Patna director Prabhat Kumar Singh thanked Deepak for donating his plasma. He, however, said other people who have recovered from Covid-19, are not coming forward to donate plasma. “Depak’s plasma will be used for the clinical trial in order to see the effectiveness of the therapy in treating Covid-19 patients in the state,” he said.
AIIMS-P blood transfusion officer Neha Singh said the process took around 45 minutes during which 500ml of plasma was taken. “The entire process went on quite smoothly without any hassles,” she said.