Plasma Therapy in Experimental Stage, No One Should Use It As It Can Be Illegal and Harmful to COVID-19 Patient, Says Health Ministry
Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary in Union Health Ministry said that at present there are no approved therapies, including plasma therapy, for treatment of coronavirus. "Plasma therapy is being experimented, however no evidence that this can be used as a treatment. National level study launched by ICMR to study efficacy", Agarwal said.
New Delhi, April 28: The Health Ministry on Tuesday said that plasma therapy in India is currently in the experimental stage and there is no enough evidence as of now to claim it can be used as treatment for COVID-19. Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary in Union Health Ministry said that at present there are no approved therapies, including plasma therapy, for treatment of coronavirus and the ICMR has launched a national-level study to study its efficacy. "Plasma therapy is being experimented, however no evidence that this can be used as a treatment. National level study launched by ICMR to study efficacy", Agarwal said. Catch Live Updates of COVID-19 Situation in India and Across the World.
In his address to the media, Agarwal added saying that plasma therapy isn't a proven therapy and no one should use it till the time it is approved. "Right now even ICMR is doing it as an experiment to identify and do additional understanding of this therapy. Till it is approved no one should use it, it'll be harmful to patient & illegal", he said. COVID-19 Cases in India Rise to 29,435, Death Toll Jumps to 934.
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Agarwal asserted that until ICMR concludes its study and a robust scientific proof is available, Plasma therapy should be used only for research or trial purpose. "If plasma therapy is not used in proper manner under proper guideline then it can also cause life threatening complications", he said.
On Tuesday, the Health Ministry said that India's recovery rate now stands at 23.3%, which is a progressive increase. Meanwhile, the doubling rate of COVID-19 cases now stands at 10.2 days. In India, the total coronavirus cases mounted to 29,435 on Tuesday with as many as 1,543 new cases in the past 24 hours. The death toll increased to 934 while 6,869 patients have recovered so far, the Union Health Ministry data said on Tuesday.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 28, 2020 05:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).