‘Unregulated use of blood plasma harmful’

Islamabad : Pakistan Society of Haematology president Dr Parvez Ahmed has warned that the unregulated use of blood plasma without optimal donor screening and patient selection can be harmful to coronavirus patients.

Dr Parvez Ahmed, a professor of clinical haematology at the Quaid-e-Azam International Hospital, Islamabad told ‘The News’ that there was currently no approved treatment for COVID-19, so different investigational drugs were being used.

“Convalescent plasma is one of the investigational treatments approved by the Pakistani government. Currently, there is no scientific proof for benefit of convalescent plasma in COVID-19 patients, conversely it can be harmful to the recipient,” he said. The PSH president said the cochrane review was considered to be the highest level of scientific evidence and recent cochrane review failed to document any benefit/enough evidence for use of convalescent plasma.

He also said there was no randomised controlled trial to support use of convalescent plasma for patients with critical disease and those on ventilatory support.

"The use of convalescent plasma can sometimes lead to life-threatening transfusion reactions and transmission of infections. It is therefore important to use convalescent plasma as part of clinical trial only at designated centres as per the advice of treating physician. Unregulated use without optimal donor screening and patient selection can be potentially harmful to the patients," he said.

Dr Parvez Ahmed said contrary to the scientific evidence, massive advertisement and unnecessary hype had made general public and some health care professionals to believe that convalescent plasma was the standard treatment option for COVID-19, which had led to unregulated and large-scale misuse of plasma, including its illegal sale on the market.

"We, the Pakistan Society of Haematology, requests the health authorities and regulatory bodies to take steps to stop this illegal and potentially harmful plasma trade and regulate in judicial use We also want to apprise the health care professionals and the general public about the potential harm of the unnecessary use of convalescent plasma," he said.