New Delhi: Administering convalescent plasma to elderly patients experiencing mild Covid-19 symptoms may help significantly reduce the need for oxygen support, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Convalescent plasma refers to plasma taken from patients who have already recovered from the infection, and hence have antibodies against the pathogen present in their systems.
Extensive trials using convalescent plasma therapies to treat Covid patients have been carried out throughout the world. The clinical trials in India carried out by ICMR, which was the largest plasma therapy trial in the world for Covid, had found the therapy ineffective in treating patients.
However, in India, convalescent plasma therapy was being administered to patients who had moderate Covid symptoms. Doctors in India had at the time pointed out that the therapy may be more beneficial if it was administered at an earlier stage of the disease.
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What the new study says
The latest study in the NEJM, conducted by an Argentina-based non-profit Fundación Infant, used convalescent plasma for the treatment of elderly Covid-19 patients before severe symptoms develop.
The study took place between June and October 2020, and included 160 patients. While 80 patients received plasma, others received placebo treatment.
The researchers said the study is especially relevant given the trial enrolled patients aged 65 and above, including those with comorbidities that put them at greater risk of Covid infection.
The team identified two key factors that are critical for convalescent plasma to be effective — it must be administered within 72 hours of the onset of symptoms, and the plasma should have a high concentration of antibodies.
If these conditions are met, the treatment could decrease the possibility that patients will require oxygen by half, the researchers said.
India’s plasma therapy trials were criticised for not having checked the level of antibodies in the donated plasma samples before administering plasma to Covid-19 patients.
“The evidence that early administration of convalescent plasma treatment can improve outcomes for Covid-19 patients is important,” said Fernando Polack, lead investigator of the study.
“There is a paucity of therapies today to prevent progression of mild cases to severe illness and no clear pathway for keeping these patients out of hospitals, where capacity continues to be stretched,” he said.
The researchers said convalescent plasma for Covid is a relatively inexpensive treatment that does not require complex infrastructure. Moreover, the study found that 28 per cent of all volunteers with a history of Covid that donated plasma developed the high titers of antibodies required for the observed effect in this trial.
Convalescent plasma treatments have been used for over a century, most recently during the Ebola, MERS and SARS outbreaks.
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