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Plasma Therapy Dropped : ICMR

Plasma Therapy:

The use of convalescent plasma has been dropped from the recommended treatment guidelines for COVID-19, according to an advisory from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

  • Though a trial by the ICMR on 400 patients last year called the PLACID trial had found no significant benefit from the use of plasma, it continued to find a place in the recommended guidelines.
  • Some experts have said the use of such plasma may have even played a role in facilitating new worrisome mutations to the virus.

Plasma therapy:

  • Blood plasma is a yellowish liquid component of blood that holds the blood cells of whole blood in suspension.
  • It is the liquid part of the blood that carries cells and proteins throughout the body. It makes up about 55% of the body’s total blood volume.
  • This plasma contains viral antibodies that have treatment potential for severe cases of the disease.
  • Plasma therapy is a medical procedure that uses the blood of a recovered patient to create antibodies on those infected individuals.
  • Medically known as convalescent plasma therapy, this treatment uses antibodies found in the blood taken from a recovered Covid-19 patient.
  • It is then used to treat those with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection to aid recovery.