Need clarity on plasma therapy
To do or not to do, that seems to be the question about the convalescent plasma therapy being offered to Covid-19 patients across the country. Within days of an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) trial suggesting that it failed to offer effective benefit to patients, a fresh study says that the therapy cannot just be written off.
As several states continue to use the experimental therapy to reduce the severity of cases as well as deaths, the two studies only add to confusion. Not just in India, there is just as much—if not more—uncertainty on the subject in the US as there has been support as well as resistance to the therapy from the scientific community in that country.
The trial that the ICMR had led across 39 hospitals found that there was barely any difference either in progression to severity of the disease or in reduction of death among patients. Even as this brought disappointment to the health community engaged in the pandemic battle, the new study carried out by the International Centre for Genetic Engineering in collaboration with the ICMR-National Institute of Malaria Research, Department of Biotechnology and the Emory Vaccine Centre, Atlanta, shed new light on it.
The study actually says that the amount of antibodies in the donors’ plasma may be key to its effectiveness, which gives the experimental therapy a new perspective. So far, the presence of the IgG antibody—or immunoglobulin G—was the criteria for administering the therapy on Covid patients. The latest study says that it is important to understand the levels of antibodies present in the plasma and even specifies the measurement that could lead to the successful use of plasma therapy.
However, challenges remain in terms of the clinical assessment of the exact levels of antibodies present in the donor’s plasma. The new study says there is inadequate evidence to assess if all donors have the required volume of antibodies. The same also needs to be detected and clearly measured among the patients who receive it. These could present a challenge to certain states that are applying the therapy to reduce fatalities. ICMR, the apex medical research body of the country, will have its task cut out to provide clarity on the issue.