Iran says plasma therapy reduces COVID-19 deaths by 40 pct

Plasma therapy has so far reduced COVID-19 deaths by 40 percent in Iran, Hassan Abolqasemi, who leads the plasma therapy project for the novel coronavirus in Iran, was quoted as saying by semi-official Mehr news agency on Tuesday.

"We started plasma therapy some 40 days ago, and to date, 300 people (who recovered from the novel coronavirus) have donated their blood plasma, and the result was a 40-percent decline in the number of deaths," said Abolqasemi.

Earlier, authorities in Masih Daneshvari Hospital in Iran's capital Tehran said that they were considering the use of COVID-19 convalescent plasma, which may contain anti-bodies to the virus and might be effective against the deterioration of health condition of newly affected patients.

Iran on Tuesday reported a total of 74,877 COVID-19 cases, of whom 4,683 have died.

(XINHUA)