Coronavirus: Kerala all set to conduct plasma therapy

Thiruvananthapuram, April 9 (IANS): With the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) now giving nod to Kerala to conduct plasma therapy, a team of medical professionals is all set to do it.

Kerala is the first state in the country to have been given the nod to try this out, as a task force was already in place.

Anoopkumar, a member of the task force, said this process is done first by conducting a blood test on a coronavirus positive patient who had turned negative.

“The positive patient after turning negative has to undergo two such tests to further clarify that it’s negative. Then after 14 days, the blood is tested to find the antibody presence. If it’s above a certain level and the person is above 55 kilograms in weight, then 800 ml of plasma is separated and it’s further split into 4 parts. Of this 200 ml is used to treat a patient whose condition is just turning serious,” said Anoopkumar.

The plasma that’s collected can be stored for many weeks.

Today, there are 80 people who tested positive for coronavirus and now negative.

The antibody blood-testing will be done at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology in the state capital.

The total number of people who were positive and cured in Kerala as on date stands at 345.