The results of a key clinical trial showed that convalescent plasma did not show any promising benefit for the high-risk group of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outpatients when given as early symptoms showed up. The trial was funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH), US Department of Health and Human Services.
As the trial did not stop the progression of the infection as expected, hence it was stopped revealed a statement from NIH. The reduction they observed was less than two per cent, said Principal investigator Clifton Callaway.
“That was surprising to us. As physicians, we wanted this to make a big difference in reducing severe illness and it did not,” he was quoted as saying in the trial paper published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
More such studies are funded by NIH to get decisive evidence to see if the treatment can help coronavirus patients recover faster. The patients include those in hospitals as well as recovering at home.
However, in the month of May this year, India had to drop the plasma therapy from the list of treatments for Covid-19 patients after evidence showed that it wasn’t helping the patients in any way.
Convalescent plasma therapy uses a blood component called plasma rich in virus-fighting antibodies from the patients who have recovered from Covid-19 to help the immune system in fighting off the infection.
A similar trial was conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in the month of September last year and its data showed that the therapy did not prevent progression to severe disease or reduce the number of deaths at 28-days of enrolment of the patient.
Many health experts across India had urged the central government to exercise caution against the “irrational and non-scientific use” of convalescent plasma in treating Covid-19 patients.
