Turn to plasma treatment during desperate times?

KOCHI: In the wake of the second wave of Covid-19, many awareness campaigns seeking donation of oxygen tanks, bed facilities and Remdesivir injections have flooded the social media. Now, campaigns encouraging the recovered Covid-19 patients to donate plasma to the critically-ill Covid patients have started trending on social media. People are pinning their hopes on plasma therapy to treat their loved ones who are Covid positive and critically ill. 

However, health experts point out that the efficacy of plasma therapy is still not confirmed and studies are yet to be conducted to understand it.Health experts highlighted that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is not much convinced about the use of convalescent plasma therapy and has warned against its indiscriminate use in treating Covid-19 patients. However, they also said though the effectiveness of plasma therapy remains a question, it has been helpful in treating critically-ill Covid patients in different parts of the state.

According to Dr P T Zacharias, state president of Indian Medical Association (IMA), convalescent plasma therapy is not something new in the field of medicine and this method has been used earlier in treating many life-threatening diseases. However, it has not been included in the treatment protocol by ICMR. 

“The immune system of the Covid-19 survivors consists of new antibodies which help in attacking the virus. It has been observed that there is a 70 per cent chance for the Covid-19 patients to recover through plasma therapy. However, it should be administered only at the right time,” said Dr Zacharias.