As the number of coronavirus patients keeps rising, a hope to cope with the challenge emerged here on Thursday when the first person who was reported positive on Feb 26 in the country and recovered a couple of weeks ago donated his plasma for treatment of critically-affected people through passive immunisation.
Speaking at a press conference the recovered patient of coronavirus, Yahya Jaffery, his parents and renowned haematologist Dr Saqib Ansari sought the government’s permission to proceed with the use of plasma for the treatment of patients.
“We need no funds, no machinery or workforce as our own hospital is ready to offer its services free of cost,” said Dr Ansari. “The process of acquiring and processing of the plasma costs Rs20,000 each and the hospital is ready to bear the cost for the good of humanity. Currently our team is working on three fronts to handle the coronavirus pandemic: limit the outbreak, treatment of patients and control panic in society.”
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He lauded young Mr Jaffery and called him a “hero of the nation” and also praised his parents for their courage and resolve against the pandemic. Talking about the recent advancement, he said that with several antibiotics and other therapies, the plasma of those recovered patients affected by the virus in the past was being used in several parts of the developed world.