Odisha to Discontinue Plasma Therapy for Treatment of COVID-19 Infection

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has decided to discontinue the convalescent plasma therapy for treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The decision was taken after the Union Health Ministry, in its latest guidelines on May 19, has deleted the use of convalescent plasma therapy for treatment of COVID-19 Infection.

Additional Chief Secretary (Health) PK Mohapatra wrote to authorities of all medical colleges and directors in this regard.

AIIMS/ICMR- COVID-19 National Task Force / Joint Monitoring Group (Dte.GHS), MoHFW, GoI, has issued new clinical guidelines for management of Covid-19 patients from which they have deleted Convalescent Plasma Therapy included as ‘off-label’ therapy.

The results of the recovery clinical trial published in The Lancet on May 14, researchers who conducted the trial reported that transfusions of high-titre plasma (plasma with a higher quantity of antibodies) didn’t improve the recipient’s chances of survival after 28 days.

Until May 17, ICMR had included the use of convalescent plasma for “off-label”, or unapproved, use, despite the findings of its own trial. Some doctors had also expressed dissatisfaction with parts of this trial, including poor patient selection and lack of plasma standardization.