While we are still away from finding a ‘vaccine’ or ‘drug’ that can surely be said as a cure for ‘COVID-19‘ a therapy has come handy. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has given approval to this therapy. The therapy is called “convalescent-plasma therapy“.
The approval is given to SCTIMST, Kerala for carrying out this therapy on ‘COVID-19‘ patients. In the therapy, blood would be drawn from a person who has recovered from coronavirus. The serum is separated and screened for virus-neutralizing antibodies. The convalescent serum is then administered to a COVID-19 patient.
“Potential donor would be examined before the blood serum is extracted and given to a sick person. First, the swab test must be negative and the potential donor has to be declared as cured. Then the recovered person has to wait for two weeks.
For the unknown antibodies are one of the front-line immune response to an infection by a microbe in the human body. Initially, the therapy would be administered to a small number of patients. It would be first conducted as a ‘clinical trial’ said Dr. Asha Kishore Director of SCTIMST. The therapy is different from vaccination.
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In vaccination, the effect lasts only up to the time the antibodies injected remain the bloodstream. However, this therapy aims at building immunity against the virus which is permanent effect.
