Using convalescent plasma in treating Covid-19 is both ineffective and a waste of resources, the World Health Organization (WHO) claims in its advisory published on Monday, warning against it.
Convalescent plasma, also known as “survivor’s plasma,” is blood plasma derived from patients who have recovered from COVID-19.
WHO experts warned in its statement against using plasma containing antibodies of the virus to treat patients with Covid-19, underlying that blood plasma transfusion from someone who has recovered from the virus isn’t recommended.
Their recommendation against the therapy is “strong” in cases in which patients are experiencing mild illness and general for patients with a severe or critical illness.
The WHO is basing its advice on the evidence from 16 trials with more than 16,000 patients, saying that convalescent plasma does not improve survival nor reduce the need for mechanical ventilation despite its initial promise, and, at the same time, it is costly and time-consuming to administer.
In a similar ruling made in August, the US National Institutes of Health revealed that, according to clinical trials, the convalescent plasma therapy did not prevent the progression of the disease in a high-risk group of Covid-19 outpatients when administered within the first week of their symptoms.
According to Dr. Clifton Callaway, who worked on the trial, researchers had observed a reduction of less than 2% reduction in disease progression although they were hoping on at least 10 %.
Although the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma therapy in August 2020, it limited its use in February only to hospitalized patients with impaired humoral immunity and those with Covid-19 early in the disease course.
Be the first to comment