Clinical trial of plasma therapy to begin soon
Kolkata: The Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) for the first time in Eastern India is all set to start the clinical trial of convalescent plasma therapy on COVID-19 affected patients from next week.
Sources at the CMCH said that the clinical trials will be carried out at the Beliaghata ID Hospital which was the first nodal hospital for COVID-19 treatment in the state. The trails will be done on 80 Corona positive patients in a phased manner. The CMCH authorities have already collected plasma samples from many patients who were once affected with the virus and now recovered from the disease. In the initial stages the plasma would be infused with the blood of the affected patients whose health condition is very serious.
A team of expert doctors will carry out the entire procedure which may take 6-8 months.
Convalescent plasma therapy is a method in which plasma retrieved from COVID -19 cured patients is transfused in other affected patients so that their immunity system against the virus gets strengthened. It boosts the immune system of a person. Plasma is a fluid where blood cells float.
"This is not a conventional method of treatment. Our primary objective is to find out if the plasma therapy proves to be effective for the COVID affected patients. We have to see if the patients' condition improves after the plasma taken from a cured patient, is transfused into his/her body. We will have to examine the factors if the plasma therapy does not work in any patient. There are many issues centering around it," said Dr Prasun Bhattacharya, head of the Immuno Hematology and Blood Transfusion department at CMCH. Dr Bhattacharya also stated that after the plasma therapy is conducted it is to be seen if it has any side effects on the patient. If the transfusion does not work, we have to find out the reasons behind it. We have to ensure if there is any immunological factor in patients.
The whole process would be undertaken after taking the consent of the patients or their family members. Everything would be done on the basis of standard protocol. It was learnt that many plasma units have already been collected from the patients and now they would be infused with the blood of the critical patients.
The plasma samples have been preserved under -80 degree Celsius.
Many of the cured patients have donated their blood to CMCH for plasma therapy after it had received permission from the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).