Mission Fateh : First Covid-19 plasma therapy conducted in Mohali

S.A.S. Nagar : “Encouraging to see donation of plasma by a Corona Conqueror Jagdeep Sehgal, SDM Mohali, who fought #Covid19 successfully, to Pal Singh, DSP Kharar, who’s presently fighting #Covid19. Wishing Pal Singh a speedy recovery. Also urge all cured patients to donate plasma. #MissionFateh”, tweets Capt. Amrinder Singh, Chief Minister Punjab on the noble gesture of solidarity expressed by the local SDM.In the first Covid-19 plasma therapy conducted in Mohali, late Thursday evening, young Corona warrior SDM Jagdeep Sehgal who recovered from infection just about a three weeks ago, donated his plasma to fellow COVID positive DSP whose condition suddenly deteriorated a night ago.The preliminary tests conducted found Jagdeep to be a fit donor with sufficient antibodies and blood match, informed Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan.Expressing a special thanks to Advisor Health & Medical Education, Punjab Dr. K.K. Talwar and the Expert Committee for permitting three hospitals in Mohali namely Fortis, Max and Grecian to conduct plasma therapy, Dayalan said that this facilitation will encourage more donors to come up who had reservations to go to Patiala, Faridkot or Amritsar to explore the donor- recipient compatibility.The first Covid-19 plasma therapy conducted in the district today was performed at the Fortis Hospital, Mohali. The authorities informed that the team looking after the COVID19 patients at Fortis Hospital Mohali are a group of Pulmonologists and Intensivists – comprising of Dr Zafar, Dr Sunil, Dr Navreet and Dr Mohit led by Dr AK Mandal and Sister Sarabjit along with their respective medical and nursing teams. Fortis Mohali has been treating COVID19 patients since April 2020 and have successfully discharged more than 100 patients till date. The team performed their first Convalescemt Plasma Therapy today on a Police Officer from Punjab who is presently undergoing treatment in the ICU. The plasma antibody donation was done by no other than the SDM Mohali , Jagdeep Sehgal as a noble gesture for his colleague-a police officer.It may be noted that Fortis Mohali Blood Bank is licensed to do specialized procedures like plasmapheresis and platelet apheresis. A donor is first tested for COVID (IgG) antibodies to be eligible for donation. Specialized Plasma machines then separate blood into different components, retain only the desired component and return blood back to the donor.