Convalescent plasma therapy has been successful in 18 persons who had tested positive for COVID-19 at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar has said.
In a tweet on Saturday, the Minister said that as per the Indian Council of Medical Research’s guidelines, a trial of convalescent plasma therapy was being carried out since May. It was successful in 18 of the 20 COVID-19 patients at RGGGH.
He appealed to the persons who had recovered to donate plasma for saving lives.
The Minister held a discussion with the blood bank team on further steps regarding plasma therapy.
Officials said that recently, convalescent plasma by plasmapheresis was indicated as “Off Label”, i.e., a drug specified for a disease can be used for another disease too.
‘Clinical Management Protocol: COVID-19’, issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, had indicated certain therapies for use as investigational therapies. Of these, convalescent plasma by plasmapheresis was indicated as ‘Off Label’ in COVID-19 patients.
A Health Department official explained: “A drug that is used for a specific disease can be given for [treating] another disease. In this context, Off Label means that COVID-19 is also included for plasma therapy. It can be given to patients with moderate disease, as per the guidelines issued by the Drug Controller.”
Moderate disease
Accordingly, “convalescent plasma can be considered in patients with moderate disease who are not improving (oxygen requirement is progressively increasing) despite the use of steroids”. Special pre-requisites were outlined while considering convalescent plasma, including ABO compatibility and cross-matching of donor plasma, the Director General of Health Services (DGHS), Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, said in a communication.
According to DGHS, a blood bank with a licence for plasmapheresis can process and give plasma to patients with moderate disease, the official added.
Another official said that RGGGH had earmarked a separate unit to take up convalescent plasma therapy. There are plans to have seven couches in the unit.