Govt removes plasma therapy from clinical management rules

Convalescent Plasma Therapy is an experimental procedure for treating COVID-19 patients. In this treatment, plasma, a blood component, from a cured patient is transfused to a critically ill coronavirus patient. (AFP)Premium
Convalescent Plasma Therapy is an experimental procedure for treating COVID-19 patients. In this treatment, plasma, a blood component, from a cured patient is transfused to a critically ill coronavirus patient. (AFP)
 1 min read . Updated: 18 May 2021, 12:17 AM IST Leroy Leo

NEW DELHI : India on Monday removed plasma therapy from its clinical management protocol, days after the Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy (RECOVERY) trial by the University of Oxford showed that it did not improve the survival rate or any other pre-specified clinical outcomes in hospitalized patients.

The RECOVERY trial result of more than 13,000 hospitalised patients was published in the medical journal The Lancet on Friday. The trial has been assessing possible treatments in patients hospitalized with covid in the UK and is underway at 177 NHS hospitals from across the UK. It has earlier shown that hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir do not help, while corticosteroids such as dexamethasone did.

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Convalescent plasma from recovered covid-19 patients was considered for off-label use in patients with moderate disease whose oxygen need was progressively increasing despite the use of steroids, according to the clinical management protocol, which is jointly managed by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The prerequisites included compatibility of blood group and other specific requirements in terms of neutralising titres.

However, the treatment has been considered controversial for nearly a year as most experts considered plasma therapy to not show significant improvement in patients though it was expensive and not difficult to avail of. Families of patients have had to run from pillar to post to get plasma, which has usually been in short supply.

India’s own PLACID Trial conducted by ICMR in over 11,000 patients last year concluded that plasma therapy had no benefit on hospitalized covid patients. Despite early evidence, the therapy continued to be in India’s clinical management protocol till now.

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