Convalescent Plasma Therapy 

Convalescent Plasma Therapy 

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Health 

In News:

• The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved use of blood plasma from recovered patients to treat severely critical COVID-19 patients.
• This process is called convalescent plasma therapy. 

Key takeaways:

• Convalescent plasma therapy seeks to make use of the antibodies developed in the recovered patient against the coronavirus.
• The whole blood or plasma (the colourless fluid part of blood) is taken from recovered patient. 
• The plasma is then injected in critically ill patients to transfer the antibodies and boost their fight against the virus.

Important value additions:

• A COVID-19 patient usually develops primary immunity against the virus in 10-14 days. 
• If the plasma is injected at an early stage, it can possibly help fight the virus and prevent severe illness.