Plasma Therapy for Covid-19, The hopes

From the time we discussed Convalescent Plasma Therapy (CPT) for treatment of Covid-19 in Prism, putting forward the argument that we are sailing unchartered waters, there has been an explosion in the number of healthcare institutions across the world scrambling to try this therapy.

Pakistan has perhaps been a couple of steps ahead of the rest of the world, with CPT beginning to be regarded not only by the public at large, but also by the medical community as the magic elixir against Covid-19. Numerous posts on social media, including Facebook and Twitter, have seen individuals imploring people who have recovered from the virus to donate their plasma in order to help save the lives of their loved ones.

A number of websites have cropped up to facilitate connecting potential donors with recipients. The great humanitarian side of Pakistanis has emerged. Quite similar to the way that people of Pakistan responded to the economic woes of daily wage workers by distribution of ration, altruistic individuals have joined hands in efforts to bring plasma donors and recipients together through the internet. Most people mean well. There is little debate in that.

The rapidly mounting numbers of sick patients and depletion of hospital beds has heightened the state of panic with calls being made from every podium possible to make CPT available to anyone who contracts this virus. After all, it can be argued that desperate times call for desperate measures.

However, when it comes to non-standard forms of treatment whose scientific merit has yet to be proven anywhere in the world, caution is in order. In our efforts to combat the disease, we must not lose sight of the fact that this is an experimental therapy, approved all over the world only within strict research parameters, and is not an over the counter drug like paracetamol, which anyone with a fever can have.

Evidence from the outside world

At present, there is only one clinical trial that has published its findings whereas the rest are still being conducted. Initiated in Wuhan, China, and eventually terminated as the number of cases decreased in the city, the trial showed that while CPT showed early promise, there was no statistically significant difference between the experimental group (52 patients which received the plasma) and the control group (51 patients that received the standard supportive treatment). Moreover, since the trial was terminated early, it was likely to be an underpowered study signifying that the findings may be inconsistent at best, and misleading at worst.

Researchers have attempted CPT for the deadly Ebola outbreak in 2016 also. In a trial of 84 patients with Ebola Virus Disease, along with 418 historical controls (patients previously treated for Ebola using other forms of treatment), there was no significant improvement in survival of patients.

Covid-19 CPT trials are still underway and in time we will have more evidence. Currently however, things are very much in the experimental phase. As of today, a registry that contains a database of clinical trials being conducted all around the world shows that 187 studies, in various phases, are being conducted to determine the efficacy of plasma therapy for treatment of Covid-19.