No clear mortality benefit of plasma therapy seen: Guleria
NEW DELHI: Convalescent plasma therapy did not show benefit in reducing mortality risk among Covid-19 patients, according to an interim analysis of a randomised controlled trial done at AIIMS here to assess the efficacy of this mode of treatment.
The therapy involves taking antibodies from the blood of a person who has recovered from Covid-19 and transfusing those into an active coronavirus infected patient to help kickstart the immune system to fight back the infection.
AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria told PTI on Thursday no clear mortality benefit of convalescent plasma therapy was seen during a trial conducted among 30 Covid-19 patients.
During the trial, one group of patients was given convalescent plasma therapy along with the standard supportive treatment while the other group only received standard treatment. The number of fatalities recorded in both the groups was equal and there was not much clinical improvement in the condition of patients, he said.
“However, this is just an interim analysis and we need to do a more detailed evaluation to see if any sub-group may benefit from plasma therapy,” Guleria said. He also underlined that plasma has to be tested for its safety and should have sufficient antibody to be useful to Covid-19 patients.
The efficacy of convalescent plasma therapy in moderate to severe coronavirus-infected patients was discussed in the third National Clinical Grand
Rounds (CGR) on Covid-19 held on Wednesday.
“Plasma is safe. As far as its efficacy is concerned, we do not have a green signal yet. So the clinical use has to be very judicious and within the ambit of national guidelines,” Dr Monish Soneja, additional professor in the Medicine department at AIIMS, said at the webinar.
About the initial findings of the randomised controlled trial, Soneja said, “Convalescent plasma is not a magic bullet.” It may be used particularly in early moderate stage of the disease. There may be a subset of patients with certain characteristics who may benefit from plasma, he said, adding, “This is a work in progress as we do not know those characteristics.” The findings highlight that relatives of the patients should not insist on plasma therapy until and unless the treating doctor considers the patient fit for it and where he may think that the mode of treatment would be beneficial, Dr Neeraj Nischal, associate Professor in the department of medicine at AIIMS, said.