'Irrational': Experts question plasma therapy, urge government to review guidelines
A group of 18 top doctors and public health professionals have raised questions over the use of plasma therapy to treat coronavirus patients in India. They have written an open letter to the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, Dr. VijayRaghavan, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in this regard.
3 major studies mention plasma offers no benefits: Experts
Making the argument, the signatories cited three noted studies against the use of plasma - the ICMR-PLACID Trial, the Recovery Trial conducted by the University of Oxford, and the PlasmAr Trial. All these studies have notably found no benefits of the use of plasma in COVID-19 patients. The group of experts has suggested the government to accordingly review its guidelines.
What is plasma therapy?
Plasma is a component of the human blood that carries antibodies for a disease/infection. The plasma therapy refers to the use of plasma of a person who has recovered from the coronavirus to treat an infected patient. Early on during the pandemic, it was believed to fasten the recovery process. Plasma can be donated one month after recovering from COVID-19.
Guidelines say plasma useful only in early infection stage
According to a report by ThePrint, the Union Health Ministry's AIIMS-ICMR National COVID Task Force guidelines allow the "off-label" use of plasma therapy at the stage of early moderate disease - within seven days of the onset of symptoms. The signatories opined the use of the term "off-label" indicates the authorities themselves are unsure of the efficacy of the method.
'Off-label tag proves the regulators aren't convinced'
"The off-label tag proves that regulators themselves aren't fully convinced. The authorities know that it does not work. Off-label, itself means not approved, yet it exists as an oxymoron," said Vivekananda Jha, one of the signatories of the letter.
Who are the signatories of the letter?
The letter is signed by top public health professionals including Dr. Gagandeep Kang of the Christian Medical College, Vellore. The other signatories include Dr. Shahid Jameel, Director, Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University, Soumitra Pathare, Director, Centre for Mental Health, Law and Policy, Indian Law Society, Yogesh Jain, Priti Meena, Prathap Tharyan, Prashanth Srinivas, Oommen John, Kamna Kakkar, Jyoti Tyagi, and Gautam Menon.
Plasma therapy also adds stress on healthcare infrastructure
Besides doubts on its efficacy, the plasma therapy also adds stress on an already overburdened healthcare infrastructure. That is so because a donor is first required to donate plasma, which then needs to be tested for the strength of the antibodies, before being administered to a patient. Some doctors even say they have to use the method to avoid the anger of patients' families.
India's coronavirus crisis
In spite of these scientific findings, social media platforms in India are filled with requests for plasma donations. India is currently facing the world's worst coronavirus outbreak, reporting lakhs of new cases every day for the past few weeks. In the past 24 hours, the country logged 3.29 lakh new infections and 3,876 deaths. India's active cases currently stand past 37 lakh.
