Plasma therapy cures critically ill COVID-19 patient in Nepal

KATHMANDU -- A 60-year-old patient of COVID-19 has recovered from the critical stage of the disease after being treated with the plasma therapy, the first time in the Himalayan country, a doctor involved in the treatment said.

"The patient who was in serious danger before was treated with plasma therapy, is now close to full recovery," Santa Kumar Das told Xinhua on Monday.

Das, also the coordinator of a COVID-19 management committee at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu where the patient was treated, said they were awaiting the report of the patient.

Doctors treated the patient on July 30 with the plasma therapy after taking blood from a man with an estimated age of 30 years.

"Before we treated him with this method, the patient required 80-90 percent external oxygen," said Das. "When we checked the health condition of the patient 48 hours after the plasma therapy was performed, we found that he required only 24-28 percent external oxygen."

He said that his hospital has taken it as a successful case with a patient recovering well and is ready to go home if he is tested negative for the virus.

The plasma therapy is not a universally accepted method of treating COVID-19 patients. This therapy is being used as a test case in many countries. According to Das, 12 hospitals have been appointed where the plasma therapy can be performed to treat COVID-19 patients in Nepal.