With ICMR now giving nod to Kerala to conduct plasma therapy, medical professionals are all set to do it. A new study shows weak evidence on hydroxychloroquine effectiveness against the disease.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 09, 2020 (IANS) With the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) now giving nod to Kerala to conduct plasma therapy, the team of medical professionals is all set to do it.
Kerala is the first state in the country to have been given the nod to try this out, as a task force was already in place.
Anoopkumar a member of the task force said this process is done first by conducting a blood test on a coronavirus positive patient who has turned negative.
” The positive patient after turning negative has to undergo two such tests to further clarify that it’s negative. Then after 14 days, the blood is tested to find the antibody presence. If it’s above a certain level and the person is above 55 kilograms in weight, then 800 ml of plasma is separated and it’s further split into 4 parts. Of this 200 ml is used to treat a patient whose condition is just turning serious,” said Anoopkumar.
The plasma that’s collected can be stored for many weeks.
Today there are 80 people who tested positive for coronavirus and now negative. The antibody blood testing will be done at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology in the state capital. The total number of people who are positive and cured in Kerala as on date stands at 345.
Study on hydroxychloroquine
IANS Toronto adds: A new study shows weak evidence on its effectiveness against the disease. the current study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, stated that chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin are being used to treat and prevent COVID-19 despite weak evidence for effectiveness, and physicians and patients should be aware of the drugs’ potentially serious adverse events.
“Physicians and patients should be aware of several rare but potentially life-threatening adverse effects of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine,” said study researcher Dr David Juurlink, Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Canada.
The review provides an overview of potential harms associated with these drugs as well as their management based on the best available evidence.
According to the study, potential adverse effects include cardiac arrhythmias– Improper beating of the heart, whether irregular, too fast or too slow, Hypoglycemia– It is a condition in which your blood sugar (glucose) level is lower than normal and overdose (chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are highly toxic in overdose and can cause seizures, coma and cardiac arrest)Neuropsychiatric effects, such as agitation, confusion, hallucinations and paranoia.
