Kolkata: Bengal government will soon start the clinical trial of convalescent plasma therapy to treat COVID-19 patients who are critically ill. The health department has taken all necessary steps after obtaining a clearance from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
It happens at a time when the state government has already begun rapid antibody blood tests and pooled testing to check the spread of the virus. According to the state health department figure, 105 patients have been released so far from the hospitals after recovery.
The health department has already carried out samples testing of around 10,893.
According to the sources in the health department, quite a few numbers of patients who once tested positive for the COVID-19 and later recovered from the disease have agreed to donate their blood samples to the health department for a clinical trial. The main purpose of the move is to cure patients who are critically ill.
"A process has been started to conduct plasma therapy in the state to save the lives of critical COVID-19 patients. It will be done on a trail basis," a health official said.
The state health department had urged the ICMR for the permission to conduct the plasma therapy after it had got the nod of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The health officials explained the importance of plasma therapy to the Chief Minister as it seems to be an effective method to cure infected patients.
The method may be first implemented on the affected patients at the Beliaghata ID hospital. The state government will follow the modality of treatment as prescribed by the ICMR in this regard.
Convalescent plasma therapy is a method in which plasma of a person who has recovered from the disease is infused with the blood of an infected patient so that their immune system against the virus gets strengthened. Plasma is a fluid where blood cells float.
The health experts said that when a person is recovered from an infection, some antibodies are created in the blood. When plasma taken from a recovered patient is injected in another's body, it creates some kind of immunity and helps the ailing patient to fight the disease. It had been applied as a method of treatment during other viral attacks like Ebola and others.