33 fresh COVID-19 cases in Telangana; Plasma trials to begin

Telangana recorded 33 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, taking the total number of those infected by the virus to 1,196 in the state, as the state-run Gandhi Hospital here is all set to carry out plasma therapy trials for coronavirus patients.

The plasma trials will be conducted from Monday as per the protocol of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), health officials said.

"This is a clinical trial. There is no proven research on plasma therapy. So, this is a research study under the guidance of ICMR and as part of it blood is obtained from those recovered from COVID-19," a doctor at the hospital said.

"Depending on their (recovered patients) age group and hemoglobin percent, and if they have any other complications, we will see all those and if they are fit then we will extract 400 ml of blood from them," he said.

The therapy will be done for patients based on certain conditions such as lung capacity, he added. The therapy aims at transfusing plasma (a component of blood) containing antibodies donated by a recovered COVID-19 patient to the serious coronavirus patients harbouring an active infection.

According to a media bulletin on COVID-19, 33 new cases were confirmed, of which 26 were from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits and another seven cases were migrants.

It said a total of 751 patients were discharged after treatment till date, however, no patient was discharged on Sunday. No deaths were reported on Sunday and the figure remained at 30 in the state while the active cases stood at 415.