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).

Q.What is convalescent plasma therapy and what are the issues involved in its adoption?

Convalescent Plasma Therapy

• The therapy seeks to make use of the antibodies developed in the recovered patient against the coronavirus.
• The whole blood or plasma from such people is taken, and the plasma is then injected into critically ill patients so that the antibodies are transferred and boost their fight against the virus.
• A COVID-19 patient usually develops primary immunity against the virus in 10-14 days.
• Therefore, if the plasma is injected at an early stage, it can possibly help fight the virus and prevent severe illness.

How often has it been used in the past?

• This therapy is no new wonder. It has been used several times.
• The US used plasma of recovered patients to treat patients of Spanish flu (1918-1920).
• In 2014, the WHO released guidelines to treat Ebola patients with convalescent whole blood and plasma.
• In 2015, plasma was used for treating MERS patients.

How is it done?

• The process to infuse plasma in a patient can be completed quickly.
• It only requires standard blood collection practices and extraction of plasma.
• If whole blood is donated (350-450 ml), a blood fractionation process is used to separate the plasma.
• Otherwise, a special machine called aphaeresis machine can be used to extract the plasma directly from the donor.
• While blood is indeed extracted from the donor, the aphaeresis machine separates and extracts the plasma using a plasma kit, and the remaining blood components are returned into the donor’s body.

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