Centre on Monday withdrew the plasma therapy from the treatment protocol of Covid-19 as it was not found effective in reducing the progression of disease from getting serious or to death.
As of recently, India’s Covid-19 treatment protocol permitted off-mark utilization of plasma treatment at the phase of early moderate illness, that is, within seven days of the beginning of symptoms and if there is accessibility of a high titre giver plasma.
This comes after a meeting of the ICMR-National Task Force for COVID-19 a week ago in which all the attendees were agreed to eliminate the utilization of plasma from the Clinical Guidance for Management of Adult Covid-19 Patients, reported PTI.
The attendees of the meeting said that the therapy was ineffective and was misused in many cases.
The therapy has been dropped by the ICMR on the recommendation by the Covid task force.
Though as being one of the key therapy for treating Covid -19, there has been a high demand for plasma donors but now even experts have raise concerns over the efficacy of plasma therapy.
The decision to drop it from the protocols comes in the setting of certain clinicians and researchers writing to Principal Scientific Advisor K Vijay Raghavan forewarning against the “irrational and non-scientific use” of recovering plasma for COVID-19 in the country.
In the letter, which was likewise marked to ICMR chief Balram Bhargava and AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria, public health experts asserted that the current rules on plasma treatment are not founded on existing proof and called attention to some early proof that shows a potential relationship between development of variations with “lower susceptibility to neutralising antibodies in immunosuppressed” individuals given plasma treatment.
“We are writing to you as concerned clinicians, public health professionals and scientists from India about the irrational and non-scientific use of convalescent plasma for COVID-19 in the country”. “This has stemmed from guidelines issued by government agencies, and we request your urgent intervention to address the issue which can prevent harassment of COVID-19 patients, their families, their clinicians and COVID-19 survivors,” read the letter.
“The current research evidence unanimously indicates that there is no benefit offered by convalescent plasma for treatment of COVID-19. However, it continues to be prescribed rampantly in hospitals across India,” the letter further mentioned.
In plasma therapy, antibodies from the blood of those who have recovered from Covid-19 are taken to treat those who are still battling with the severe Covid infection.
