Plasma Therapy Not Effective
Source : Indian Express
GS III : Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life

Why in News ?

Plasma therapy on COVID-19 patients has not been found effective in reducing the progression to severe disease or death and is likely to be dropped from the clinical management guidelines.

• The present guidelines allows off label use of plasma therapy
• Especially at the stage of early moderate disease within seven days of the onset of symptoms
• Can be done if there is availability of a high titre donor plasma.

Key Facts

• Removing the use of convalescent plasma from the Clinical Guidance for Management of Adult COVID-19 Patients citing its ineffectiveness and inappropriate use in several cases.
• Why it s dropping ?
  • The decision to remove it from the guidelines comes in the backdrop of some clinicians and scientists cautioning against the irrational and non-scientific use of convalescent plasma for COVID-19 in the country.
  • Public health professionals alleged that the current guidelines on plasma therapy are not based on existing evidence
  • Evidence that indicates a possible association between emergence of variants with lower susceptibility to neutralising antibodies in immuno-suppressed people given plasma therapy.
  • Convalescent plasma was not associated with a reduction in progression to severe COVID-19 based on large trial of 11,588 patients found.
  • Also Plasma trial in Argentina concluded that there is no significant difference.

Plasma Therapy for COVID antibodies from the blood of a patient who has recovered from COVID-19 are used to treat serious patients.

What is Plasma Therappy ?

• Also known as convalescent plasma therapy.
• Plasma the yellowish liquid part of the blood is extracted from a person who has recovered from the infection and injected into a patient who is suffering from that disease.
• The plasma contains that antibodies that can help a patient fight the pathogen and recover from the disease.
• In the case of COVID-19 a plasma donor should have recovered from the infection in around 28 days and should be in the age group of 18 to 60 years.

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