- Use of convalescent plasma therapy in coronavirus-infected patients does not help in reducing mortality or progression to severe COVID-19, a multi-centric study funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has found.
- The ‘open-label parallel-arm phase II multicentre randomized controlled trial’ (PLACID Trial) was conducted across 39 public and private hospitals across India between April 22 and July 14 to find effectiveness of convalescent plasma (CP) for the treatment of COVID-19.
- The Clinical Management Protocols for COVID-19 issued by the Union Health Ministry on June 27 allowed use of convalescent plasma (Off label) for treating coronavirus-infected patients in moderate stage of the illness under “investigational therapies.”
- A prior measurement of neutralising antibody (NAb) titres in donors and participants may further clarify the role of CP in management of COVID-19.
What is blood plasma therapy?
- When people are sickened with a disease, such as Covid-19, their immune systems generate antibodies to fight back.
- These antibody proteins are found in blood plasma, the liquid that surrounds blood cells.
- Scientists are able to take blood plasma from someone who has had Covid-19 and isolate the antibodies.
- These antibodies can then be injected into someone sick with the disease, to help combat it until the patient’s immune system generates enough of its own antibodies and ward off the infection.