ICMR Study Finds Plasma Therapy Doesn’t Benefit COVID-19 Patients

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New Delhi: An Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study has found that convalescent plasma therapy hardly benefits COVID-19 patients.

The findings, published in the British Medical Journal on Thursday, say that the therapy did not prevent progression to severe disease among COVID-19 patients, reported the Hindustan Times.

A comparison was made for two groups — 235 who received two doses of convalescent plasma and 229 who underwent standard treatment. It was found that the outcomes were almost the same for both groups.

Though a number of states have adopted plasma therapy to treat coronavirus positive patients, the National Task Force is mulling removing plasma therapy from COVID-19 treatment protocol after the ICMR study.

The process involves use of plasma of patients who have recovered from the virus to help the immune response of those who are fighting it.