Use plasma therapy only for trial till ICMR concludes study: Health Ministry
The Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday (April 28, 2020) that presently the plasma therapy is at an experimental stage and there is no evidence yet to prove that it can be used as a proper treatment method for COVID-19. Addressing a press briefing, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, said that currently there are no approved therapies for COVID-19 and there is not enough evidence to support that plasma therapy can be used to cure the infection.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has launched a national-level study to examine the efficacy of the plasma therapy for treating coronavirus. Till the ICMR concludes the study and a proper scientific proof is made available, plasma therapy should be used only for research or trial purposes. He added that if plasma therapy is not utlized in a proper manner under guidelines, then it can also result in life threatening complications.
What is plasma therapy and what does the treatment involve?
Plasma therapy involves transfering the immunity of a healthy person to a sick person, by using convalescent plasma.
Convalescent Plasma:Â The treatment involves the transfusion of blood plasma from an individual cured of the coronavirus infection, to an active patient. The recovered person’s plasma has developed antibodies to fight against coronavirus. When the plasma of the donor is transfused to the bloodstream of the receiver, the patient’s blood is likely to develop the same antibodies to fight against the virus.
Blood plasma is a liquid component of the blood, which carries cells and proteins throughout the body. It is an important component of the blood, apart form red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
Recently, many states in India such as Delhi, Kerala, Gujarat, have started using plasma therapy to cure COVID-19 patients. The only challenge remains is to encourage recovered people to donate their blood plasma for helping in the treatment of the other patients. However, doctors still believe that the plasma therapy is not an alternative to a COVID-19 vaccine.
Recently, as many as 200 Tablighi Jamaat members who recovered from coronavirus, pledged to donate their plasma for treating the severely infected COVID-19 patients.
RELATED NEWS: Plasma therapy for COVID-19 effective, donors still sceptical
The Health Ministry stated that the doubling rate of coronavirus cases in India now stands at 10.2 days. In the last 24 hours alone, 1,543 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported, taking the total number of cases to 29,435. 6,868 patients, which is 23.3 per cent of the total cases, have recovered till now.
