Bengaluru plasma donor saves six lives

Kunal Ganna, a 21-year-old city-based businessman who recovered from coronavirus has emerged as a savior, with his three plasma donations saving the lives of six infected patients, an official said.

"Kunal's plasma has already saved three lives. He is looking forward to donating once more. He donated three times to save six lives," said HealthCare Global (HCG) hospital associate dean Vishal Rao.

One of the recipients of Ganna's plasma was B H Natesh, a cardiologist from Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences.

On Saturday, Natesh met Ganna virtually on a zoom call and thanked him for donating the plasma and sharing his immunity to save his life.

The senior cardiologist tested positive for coronavirus on July 16.

"As his health deteriorated, Natesh was admitted to the ICU of Apollo hospital on Bannerghatta road on July 21. He received high flow oxygen, Remdesivir, and other standard treatments for Covid," said Rao.

Despite all these efforts, Natesh's health started deteriorating, prompting his doctors to consider plasma therapy.

On July 28, the cardiologist's colleagues and friends contacted HCG hospital plasma bank, managing a plasma donation from Kunal Ganna.

"Natesh received Kunal's plasma on July 28 while he was still in the ICU. Within three quick days, he made a recovery and was shifted to the ward after spending nearly five days in the ICU," said Rao.

On betterment of health, following the plasma injection, Natesh was discharged from the hospital in a stable condition on Wednesday.

According to Rao, Natesh attributes his recovery from coronavirus to the administration of plasma and the unrelenting efforts of doctors.

Back in April, city-based HCG hospital had received the Central government's nod to conduct clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of convalescent plasma therapy in Covid treatment.

Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI), V G Somani, the licensing authority for the therapy, listed 19 conditions in his sanction order for HCG to be met for executing the therapy evaluation while giving the permission.

"The idea behind this therapy (plasma) is that immunity can be transferred from a healthy person to a sick patient using convalescent plasma. This therapy uses antibodies from the blood of a recovered coronavirus patient to treat another critical patient," added Rao.

Rao and some of his colleagues collaborated with state-run BMC Victoria hospital in the city center to commence clinical trials..