According to the latest guidelines the use of convalescent plasma therapyis dropped from the recommended treatment protocols for COVID-19. These guidelines were released by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday.

As per the earlier ICMR advisory dated 22nd April, convalescent plasma (Off label) treatment was considered in the following criteria only: 

1. Early moderate disease (preferably within 7 days of symptom onset, it was of no use after 7 days) and
2. Availability of high titre donor plasma (Signal to cut-off ratio (S/O) >3.5 or equal depending on the test kit used).

The earlier advisory stated that Tocilizumab (off label), Remdesivir, and Convalescent plasma (Off label) therapy were used for treatment of coronavirus patients. But as per the recent advisory, only Remdesivir, Tocilizumab (off label) can be used.

On 14th May, a meeting was held of the ICMR-National Task Force for COVID-19 and the ineffectiveness of plasma in several cases was discussed. With the increasing number of cases in the country, there was a sudden demand for plasma donors, even though the experts had concerns related to the efficacy of plasma therapy for COVID-19 patients.

On Monday, Indias daily high in coronavirus cases has dropped below the 3-lakh mark for the first time in 26 days as 2,81,386 fresh cases were recorded in the last 24 hours, as per the data.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported almost 4,106 deaths and 3,78,741 recoveries in the last 24 hours. The total number of coronavirus cases stands at 2,49,65,463, with 2,11,74,076 recoveries. There are a total 35,16,997 active cases and 2,74,390 deaths.

According to the ICMR, a total of 31,64,23,658 samples were tested for COVID-19 up to 16th May and out of these, 15,73,515 samples were tested on Sunday.

Source: ET Healthworld