UPSC Articles
ICMR issues advisory on Plasma Therapy
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Sci & tech
In news
- According to an advisory from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the use of convalescent plasma has been dropped from the recommended treatment guidelines for COVID-19
Key takeaways
- PLACID trial conducted last year had found no significant benefit from the use of plasma; it still continued to find a place in the recommended guidelines.
- According to some experts, the use of such plasma may have caused new mutations to the virus.
Important value additions
Plasma
- Blood plasma is a yellowish liquid component of blood that holds the blood cells of whole blood in suspension.
- It is the liquid part of the blood that carries cells and proteins throughout the body.
- It makes up about 55% of the body’s total blood volume.
- This plasma contains viral antibodies that have treatment potential for severe cases of the disease.
Plasma therapy
- Plasma therapy is a medical procedure that uses the blood of a recovered patient to create antibodies on those infected individuals.
- It is medically known as convalescent plasma therapy.
- This treatment uses antibodies found in the blood taken from a recovered Covid-19 patient.
- It is then used to treat those with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection to aid recovery.
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