Maha’s 1st plasma recipient dies in city, but govt to continue trials

Sumitra.DebRoy@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:1.5.2020

The first patient in the state to be treated with the plasma therapy to beat Covid-19 succumbed late on Wednesday at Bandra’s Lilavati Hospital, where he was on ventilator for 10 days. Doctors said the 53-year-old didn’t test negative for the infection or show any improvement since the therapy was administered four days ago. The state, however, said the setback wouldn’t change its decision to allow more hospitals to carry out plasma therapy trials.

The man was transfused with one dose (200ml) of plasma from a recovered patient on compassionate grounds on Saturday with the belief that the antibodies in the blood component would help him fight the infection. Sources said while his oxygen levels got marginally better over the next few hours, he again became critical within 24 hours. The patient tested positive for the infection thrice in the last 10 days.

Dr V Ravishankar, COO of the hospital, said the patient had developed acute respiratory distress syndrome and ultimately died of septicaemia around 11.30pm. Medical records showed that the patient had developed sore throat and fever around April 8-9, but didn’t seek treatment or testing for at least 10 days. Dr Ravishankar said, “We had to put him on ventilator the same day he got admitted to the hospital (April 20). We tried treating him with the anti-inflammatory drug tocilizumab and also prone positioning (placing him face down), but nothing worked.” The patient didn’t have any underlying conditions.

Dr Om Srivastava, principal investigator of the plasma trial at Kasturba Hospital, declined to comment on the development. A civic official said a second recipient was being prepped, but the transfusion didn’t go through. “We are lining up more recipients,” he added. Dr Anupkumar Yadav of Directorate of Health Services said plasma trials would continue in the state with appropriate selection of patients as it’s an emerging treatment.