Bhubaneswar: Odisha Government on Thursday discontinued Convalescent Plasma Therapy in the state for treatment of COVID-19 infection.
PK Mohapatra, Additional Chief Secretary, Health & Family Welfare Department has written to the deans of medical colleges of Cuttack, Berhampur, Burla, and Koraput and the directors of Bhubaneswar Capital Hospital, and Rourkela IGH Hospital in this regard.
The Health ACS has instructed the authorities concerned to adhere to the guidelines and discontinue convalescent plasma therapy for the management of COVID-19 infection in the State.
The Technical Committee comprising of DPH(0), DHS(0) and DMET(0) has reported the following points:
- AIIMS / ICMR- COVID-19 National Task Force r Joint Monitoring Group (Dte.GHS). MoHFW. Gol 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 (Le. 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-labor, 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.)
- In the absence of other treatment guidelines, its inclusion in ICMR’s protocols allowed doctors and hospitals following varying treatment regimes around the country, drawn from their OWII experiences, to prescribe the use of Convalescent plasma as well despite z.ero supporting evidence.
- The Committee has pointed out that international guideline such as those from the US National Institutes of Health and the IDSA guidelines also recommend against general use of plasma therapy for COVID-19.
