CONVALESCENT PLASMA THERAPY- A PROMISING APPROACH TO TREAT COVID 19

Gautam D. Mehetre*, Shriya R. Pande, Samiksha D. Nayse, Swaranjali U. Gubare and Tushar N. Patil

ABSTRACT

In a rapidly evolving pandemic, therapeutic options must be available quickly as is applicable to the current pandemic threat to the human life named COVID 19.[1] Besides, many other options being tried to treat the disease, apart from use of medicinal agents which at the moment are being used as a blind trial and nothing more than that, use of convalescent plasma transfusions could be of great value in the current pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), given the lack of specific preventative and therapeutic options. This convalescent plasma therapy is of particular interest when a vaccine or specific therapy is not yet available for emerging viruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes COVID-19. Response to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases throughout history has included rapid scientific collaborations to develop specific vaccines or therapies. To that end, currently, there is a large global trial supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), SOLIDARITY, to investigate existing therapies for COVID-19, including remdesivir, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir and ritonavir, and lopinavir + ritonavir + interferon-beta. In addition, there is broad interest to leverage convalescent plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients as treatment or for prophylaxis of health care workers and other caregivers. The United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) has released guidance for investigation of convalescent plasma in the United States for COVID- 19.[2] Additionally, historic data has reported safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma for use in other infectious diseases, and there is also new data on convalescent plasma use in the current global public health emergency specifically to treat COVID-19. Optimization of known potential benefits of convalescent plasma may improve efficacy to support the medical needs of the widespread impact of COVID-19.

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