The Indian government on Monday discontinued plasma therapy from the country’s clinical management guidelines on COVID-19.
The move came after an expert group discovered that the plasma therapy was largely ineffective in reducing the progression of coronavirus to severe disease or deaths. Plasma therapy was being profoundly used across India.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has revised the clinical guidelines for COVID-19 which does not mention the usage of plasma therapy.
Also Read | Walk-in vaccination for 45+ in Delhi, stock to last 3 days
The earlier guidelines allowed "off label" use of plasma therapy at the stage of early moderate disease, that is, within seven days of the onset of symptoms and if there is the availability of a high titre donor plasma.
India had carried through randomised controlled research on the effects of plasma therapy in COVID-19 patients. The study was completed in September last year and showed that plasma therapy failed to save people.
Recently, British Medical Journal Lancet had published strong evidence reconfirming the ineffective case of plasma therapy in COVID-19 patients.
Also Read | Medical infrastructure in UP villages at God's mercy: Allahabad HC
