A 58-year-old doctor, the first patient to receive plasma therapy in Uttar Pradesh for COVID-19, has passed away, King George's Medical University (KGMU) said.
The doctor and his wife were earlier admitted after they tested positive for COVID-19.
As per KGMU administration, after plasma therapy, the doctor's lungs had improved, but he later developed urinary tract infection and was treated for that. Two reports of his samples came out as negative for COVID-19, it added.
The administration further informed that the report of the doctor's wife has also come out to be negative and she will be discharged soon.
The ICMR had earlier said that currently there are no approved, definitive therapies for COVID-19. Convalescent plasma is one of several emerging therapies. However, there is no robust evidence to support it for routine therapy, the research body had said.
Cautioning about the risks of using plasma therapy, ICMR had noted that convalescent plasma therapy comes with its own share of technical challenges, like antibody titer testing. There are also several risks of using this therapy including life-threatening allergic reactions and lung injury.
( With inputs from ANI )