E-Paper
Plasma therapy to Ayurvedic medicines, Ghaziabad plans measures to combat rising Covid deaths
Ghaziabad:
Ghaziabad:
Amid the spike in deaths due to Covid-19, the Ghaziabad health department is planning a slew of measures, including the use of plasma therapy, in order to bring down the fatality rate in the district.
Health officials have also decided to use Ayurvedic medicines, along with conventional treatment, for Covid patients in hospitals and quarantine centres.
Ghaziabad has a death rate of 3.31%, which is higher than the state average of 2.93% till June 13. In the district, only four deaths due to Covid-19 were reported till May 31, while 16 fatalities have taken place in June so far.
“I have directed officials to apply for getting permission for plasma therapy, as results in nearby Noida have been encouraging. We need authorisation from ICMR for the purpose. We have blood separation unit at MMG Hospital and the facility can be initiated at our L3 hospital. There are a number of Covid-19 patients who have recovered and are ready to donate plasma,” said Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer (CMO).
The Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Greater Noida has approval to administer plasma therapy. “We have good recovery rate. About 7-8 patients were given plasma therapy, and most of them (about 6) have recovered and got discharged. Those under treatment are responding well. So the results are encouraging,” said Brigadier (retired) RK Gupta, director of GIMS.
Plasma therapy involves treating the patient with the plasma of a compatible patient who recovered from Covid-19. The antibodies present in the plasma are expected to help the patient fight off the infection.
The Ghaziabad CMO further said that he has asked officials for use of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). “To supplement treatment, we have also decided to use HCQ for patients in a quarantine facility. But this will not be given to patients over 50 years and also those suffering from different ailments, including cardiac issues. We have also decided to make add-on of four types of Ayurvedic medicines which will be given to patients in our L1 hospitals. These will supplement treatment,” Gupta added.
In the new set of protocols, the Union health ministry on Saturday removed its earlier recommendation of using HCQ in combination with antibiotic drug azithromycin in severe cases. The ministry, in its revised ‘Clinical Management Protocols for COVID-19’, said that the anti-malarial drug HCQ should only be used in the early stages of the disease and should be avoided in critical cases.
On May 31, Ghaziabad had a total of 305 Covid-19 cases, but the number has risen sharply to 604 till June 13 with 20 deaths.
The district officials on Sunday also held a marathon meeting and decided to implement TTT scheme, which includes components of tracing, testing and treatment.
“Under the scheme, the health care workers have been asked to get in touch with about 250 families in vicinity of house of a Covid-19 patient and check for instances of SARI (severe acute respiratory infection) and also if anyone has oxygen level below 95%. Such cases will be immediately reported and taken to a health care facility. Further, an officer has also been assigned work to ensure that ventilators in L2 hospital at Sanjay Nagar are put to use,” said GK Mishra, district malaria officer.
The Sanjay Nagar hospital is a 100-bed L2 Covid hospital and has been in limelight after eight ventilators were non-functional and never used for patients. After intervention of the district officials, the ventilators were made operational.
“An officer has also been assigned task to ensure that any person having symptoms of SARI should be tested and shifted to a hospital from the primary health centre or the community health centre,” Mishra added.
According to the health officials, of the 20 Covid-related deaths till June 13, nine have taken place in Ghaziabad, nine others in Meerut, and one each in Delhi and Noida.
