Is Convalescent Plasma Therapy a potential cure for COVID-19?
Can Plasma Therapy help fight coronavirus epidemic?
Why in NEWS?
• Convalescent Plasma Therapy can be a potential cure for COVID-19 until vaccine is ready.
• No drug available
• Vaccine can take upto 1 year to get ready.
• Clinical trials going on.
• Convalescent means: A person who's recovering from an illness
What is CONVALESCENT PLASMA THERAPY ?
• Take blood plasma of patient who has recovered from the Coronavirus and transfuse his blood plasma containing antibodies to fight against COVID-19, in person infected with Coronavirus.
• Used to treat critically ill COVID-19 cases – cannot produce own antibodies to fight coronavirus.
• "Plasma Pheresis"
Technique of collecting the blood of patients and separating the plasma from blood cells.
Mechanism – How this technique works?
Ø Infected Person à Antibodies (B-Lymphocytes) à Attack Virus à Recover
• As people fight the COVID-19 virus, they produce antibodies that attack the virus.
• Those antibodies, proteins that are secreted by immune cells known as B lymphocytes, are found in plasma, or the liquid part of blood.
• Once a person has had the virus and recovered, that person has developed antibodies that will stay in their blood waiting to fight the same virus should it return.
Ø COVID-19 Patient: Transfuse Plasma à Antibodies (B-Lymphocytes) à Recognize & Attack Virus (Spike Glycoprotein) à Recover
• Those antibodies, when injected into another person with the disease, recognize the virus as something to attack.
• In the case of the coronavirus, scientists say antibodies attack the spikes on the outside of the virus, blocking the virus from penetrating human cells.
• Convalescent plasma is also known as passive antibody therapy, meaning that while it can immediately provide a person with antibodies to fight a virus, those antibodies only last a short period of time in the recipient’s body.
Plasma Therapy Situation in INDIA
• First State in India to start Plasma Therapy on trial basis: Kerala
• Project initiated by : Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST)
Ø Institution of National Importance, under the Union Department of Science and Technology
• Permissions:
Ø ICMR given
Ø DGCI, Ethics committee – yet to receive
• Blood donation: Voluntary donation from the patients who have recovered from the disease.
History of CPT
• In 1900s, first Nobel Prize awardee Emil von Behring developed a cure for diphtheria by injecting infected patients with antibodies taken from animals.
• In 1918, during Spanish flu pandemic, plasma therapy was used.
• In 2013, during Ebola epidemic, plasma therapy was again used as vaccine development was taking time.
• Some of the other countries working: US, UK, China
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