Plasma Bank

A sex-specific group of ten plasma proteins were found to detect 18 different early-stage cancers, representing all major organs of the body, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal Oncology. Researchers said that while cancers of kidney in men and colon in women were easier to detect using their test, bladder cancer in women and thyroid cancer in men were "more challenging but achieved with relatively high accuracy after optimisation". The proteins could also detect liver and ovarian cancers, among others. The research team at Novelna Inc, the US company that designed the test, found that while each of these proteins, by itself, was only moderately accurate at picking up the disease at an early stage, it was highly accurate when combined with other proteins in the group. They said that these proteins were particularly effective at picking up early-stage disease, even as they showed an ability to pick up stage I-III disease and all types of cancer. The team sa

The government on Monday revised the clinical guidance for COVID-19 treatment, dropping the off-label use of convalescent plasma as it was found not beneficial in reducing the progression to severe disease or death. The development came following a meeting of the ICMR-National Task Force for COVID-19 last week wherein all members were in favour of removing the use of convalescent plasma from the guidelines citing its ineffectiveness and inappropriate use in several cases. An Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) official said the task force "revised" the Clinical Guidance for Management of Adult COVID-19 Patients and "dropped convalescent plasma (off label)". The previous guidelines recommended off-label use of plasma therapy at the stage of early moderate disease, that is, within seven days of the onset of symptoms and if there is availability of a high titre donor plasma. The decision to remove it from the guidelines comes in the backdrop of some clinicians and scientists ...

The absence of drugs to target the Sars-CoV-2 virus had triggered research on repurposed drugs, as well as biologics

The first plasma bank was opened on July 2 by Chief Minster Arvind Kejriwal at the state-run Institute of Liver and Biliary Science (ILBS) in south Delhi

Experts feel that ICMR guidelines may not be binding upon hospitals unless DCGI gives a direction against use of the investigational therapy

The Centre is considering to remove convalescent plasma therapy from the national clinical management protocol for Covid-19, a top ICMR official said on Tuesday

Study questions therapy's effectiveness in reducing Covid death risks; doctors say helpful in early days

Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday inaugurated 'Lohitanjali', a week-long plasma donation drive at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital in Assam

The Convalescent Plasma therapy didn't help in reducing death due to the coronavirus, the India Council of Medical Research revealed in a study

Amid blood plasma availability crunch, the Goa government on Friday announced new incentives in order to lure cured Covid-19 patients to donate plasma

The US health watchdog has given emergency authorisation for the use of blood plasma to treat coronavirus patients in the country, saying the benefits of the treatment outweighed any potential risks.

WHO says using plasma from the recovered to treat COVID-19 is still considered an experimental therapy and that the preliminary results showing it may work are still inconclusive.

Trump called this move a breakthrough, while one of his top health officials called promising and other health experts said needs more study before it's celebrated

Tourism sector suffers Rs 1.58 trillion loss, TB testing to be scaled up, and why the Covid recovery rate is meaningless--news on how the country is dealing with the pandemic

The first of a two-part series looks at challenges involved in plasma therapy

The response to a call for donating convalescent plasma for COVID-19 patients in Delhi has been "lukewarm", doctors said and attributed it to unfounded apprehensions about associated health risks

The second of a two-part series looks at how effective plasma therapy is in the fight against Covid-19

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the Covid-19 Plasma Bank for treatment of serious patients at SCB Medical College, Cuttack

Delhi got its second plasma bank, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurating the facility at the state-run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital here for treatment of Covid-19 patients

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to hospitals to counsel their Covid-19 patients to donate plasma after 14 days of recovery from the disease