Plasma therapy may lessen severity, shorten duration in Covid treatment

September 20, 2020

Plasma therapy may lessen severity, shorten duration in Covid treatment

“The data from small clinical trials have revealed that plasma therapy may lessen the severity or shorten the duration of Covid-19. More research is needed to determine and gather more evidence.”

Dr. Sachin Verma, diabetes and infectious disease specialist at Ivy Hospital, Mohali said that it is not the first time that plasma therapy has been recommended for treating viral infections. The list includes rabies, hepatitis B, measles, influenza, Ebola, and haemorrhagic fevers for which this treatment was recommended for, he remarked.

Dr. Sachin who is treating Covid patients at Ivy Hospital since the outbreak of the pandemic said that the procedure takes about one to two hours to complete. This procedure is like blood donation wherein the blood groups and Rh compatibility is taken into account. One can donate or receive blood if and only if the blood group matches. The donor undergoes stringent examination and testing for certain mandatory factors including hepatitis, HIV, malaria, etc. to ensure that the unintended pathogen is not passed on to the receiver, he said.

He further informed that blood is drawn from a previously infected but completely recovered patient and then the blood is processed to remove blood cells, leaving behind liquid plasma and antibodies. This plasma is injected into an infected person’s body that will fight the virus and neutralize it from spreading.

Though this treatment has proved to be effective for Covid patients, it needs to be conducted under proper medical supervision keeping in mind underlying risks, he pointed out.

As this process involves blood transfusion, there could be a risk of transmitting a prevalent virus from a recovered person. Thus, a doctor must closely assess the health of the recovered person before opting to conduct a blood transfusion, he cautioned.