VIJAYAWADA: People who recover from COVID-19 in Andhra Pradesh will be counselled about convalescent plasma therapy before being discharged, and their details will be taken so they can be contacted for plasma donation, if required, the state health department has said.
The ICMR is set to start clinical trials for convalescent plasma therapy, though it is already being done in Kerala, Punjab and New Delhi. About 99 hospitals across India have expressed willingness to participate in the ICMR study by conducting clinical trials, outside of which the council doesn’t recommend the method for treatment as of now. AP officials have sought the Centre’s permission to conduct plasma therapy.
Discharged Covid-19 patients to be counselled
The ICMR study is titled ‘A Phase II, Open Label, Randomised Controlled Study to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of Convalescent Plasma to Limit COVID-19 Associated Complications’. According to the discharge guidelines issued by Special Chief Secretary (Health) KS Jawahar Reddy, patients should be told about convalescent plasma therapy in detail and counselled about plasma donation.
Their addresses and mobile numbers are to be taken so they can be contacted for plasma donation, the guidelines add, and point out that the procedure will be “very useful to treat moderate to severe Covid-19 cases”. Regarding the other discharge guidelines issued by the state health department, a patient may be considered for discharge after clinical clearance and a clear chest x-ray, besides two consecutive RT PCR tests conducted 24 hours apart (14th and 15th days) that return negative for coronavirus.
“If the throat swab test is positive on the 14th day, patient to be retained in the hospital and next sample should be sent on 28th day. If the result is negative, a second sample should be sent for test 24 hours apart i.e., 29th day. If the throat swab test is negative on 14th day, but positive 24 hours i.e., 15th day, patient shall be retained in the hospital. Next sample should be sent on 29th day and second sample should be 24 hours apart i.e., 30th day,” the order said. After discharge too, patients have to be in home isolation for 14 days with a surgical mask.
How it works
Convalescent plasma therapy is an experimental procedure in which a recovered COVID-19 patient’s plasma is infused into an infectee so the antibodies can help the infectee battle the virus