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.
