Covid-19 plasma therapy helping to prevent deaths: Experts

Many hospitals, which were opted by ICMR in its trial phase, have continued the therapy which helped to reduce deaths among the Covid-19 infected patients
Image for representational purpose only
Image for representational purpose only

HUBBALLI:  Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is mulling to remove plasma therapy from Covid-19 treatment protocol quoting it doesn't reduce the risk of death. But the medical institutes and hospitals, which had started plasma therapy in the trial phase, have continued therapy after getting good results.

By transfusing plasmas of a Covid-19 cured person to an infected patient, the disease can be cured. In the therapy, antibodies from the blood of the cured patient are being used to treat infected and it is accepted by many countries as the best treatment. 

To investigate the effectiveness of plasma therapy, ICMR selected 39 public and private hospitals across the country in which 464 adults with moderate Covid-19 were infused plasma between April 22 to July 14. In the trial, 44 patients (19 percent) died in the intervention arm and 41 patients (18 percent) died in the control arm. Therefore quoting plasma therapy failed to control deaths, ICMR came to a conclusion of stopping the therapy. 

But still, many hospitals, which were opted by ICMR in its trial phase, have continued the therapy which helped to reduce deaths among the Covid-19 infected patients. Some hospitals have completed more than a hundred therapies. In Hubballi KIMS has completed 103 plasma therapies out of which 15 patients died.

Sources at KIMS said their institute has been conducting plasma therapy on moderate patients only. Due to some external pressure, they conducted the therapy on some severe patients, who had not matched criteria to get plasma, and all 15 deaths took place in such severe patients.

According to experts, in the trial phase, there were no guidelines for conducting antibody test among the plasma donors. If any Covid-19 cured person come to donate blood, they blindly used to take blood and infuse plasma to moderate and severe patients and they did not know where the blood of donor is fit to treat Covid-19 patient or not. Therefore mortality even after getting plasma therapy was high in the study of ICMR. the data used by the ICMR is not convincing and it should analyse the data one more time before coming to any conclusion.

After a month or two, ICMR made it compulsory to conduct antibody test among the donors and it has been followed by all institutes and hospitals. For the best result, before getting blood of donors Covid Neutralising Antibody test should be done then only it is possible to come to know whether the plasma is fit to cure the patient or not, they said.

After many studies by various countries found that plasma therapy is very effective to treat early moderate patients. Even ICRM suggested the same to hospitals in the country. Many institutes and hospitals in the country are following it to treat early moderate patients. Prestigious institutes like AIIMS, PGI of Chandigarh and other institutes conducted more than 500 plasma therapies.

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