India drops plasma therapy from Covid treatment guidelines

India on Monday dropped convalescent plasma therapy from the list of treatments suggested for Covid-19 following growing evidence that it did not benefit people who were infected in any way.

The revised guidelines, jointly issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-COVID-19 National Task Force, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, and Union ministry of health and family welfare, no longer mentions it in the list of off-label or emergency use authorisation treatments.

The technique is based on drawing blood from a person who has recovered after which plasma rich in Sars-cov-2 antibodies is separated and pumped into a person still battling the infection.

“ICMR has made it public in the past also that the therapy isn’t of much use based on the evidence that we have, and the earlier revised guidelines were also drastically modified for reference of those wanting to administer it, with clear cut do’s and don’ts. But now it has been deleted altogether,” said one of the members of National Task Force, who is aware of the matter, asking not to be named.