Convalescent Plasma therapy didn't help in reducing Covid-19 deaths: ICMR

The Convalescent Plasma therapy didn't help in reducing death due to the coronavirus, the India Council of Medical Research revealed in a study

The Convalescent Plasma (CP) therapy didn't help in reducing death due to the coronavirus, the India Council of Medical Research (ICMR) revealed in a study.

The apex medical research has made these revelations to investigate the effectiveness of plasma therapy for the treatment of COVID-19 after conducting a study in 39 hospitals across India.

For this, the ICMR researchers did an open-label, parallel-arm, phase II, multicentre, and randomized controlled trial from April 22 to July 14 this year. The trial was registered with the Clinical Trial Registry of India (CTRI) for the purpose, it said.

A total of 1,210 patients (moderately ill confirmed COVID-19) admitted across 39 trial sites were screened. Of these, 29 were teaching public hospitals and 10 were private hospitals spread across 14 states and Union Territories representing 25 cities.

The study was conducted on 464 participants who were hospitalized and moderately ill confirmed COVID-19 patients, and these 464 patients were randomly enrolled. Out of which, about 235 participants were put in the intervention arm while 229 subjects were in the control arm.

According to the study, participants were randomized to either control or intervention arm. Two doses of 200 ml CP was transfused 24 hours apart in the intervention arm.

"Composite primary outcome was achieved in 44 (18.7 per cent) participants in the intervention arm and 41 (17.9 per cent) in the control arm. Mortality was documented in 34 (13.6 per cent) and 31 (14.6 per cent) participants in intervention and control arm, respectively," study mentioned.

"Convalescent Plasma was not associated with a reduction in mortality or progression to severe COVID-19. This trial has high generalizability and approximates real-life setting of convalescent plasma therapy in settings with limited laboratory capacity. A priori measurement of neutralizing antibody titres in donors and participants may further clarify the role of CP in the management of COVID-19," concluded the findings of the study.