Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 26 : Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) today said not all patients who have recovered from COVID-19 infection can be plasma donors.
“Many recovered patients do not develop enough antibodies in their blood that is needed to fight against the novel Coronavirus,” said DAK President Dr Nisar ul Hassan.
Quoting a Chinese study, he said more than 30 per cent of recovered COVID-19 patients had low levels of antibodies. “6 per cent of cases had no detectable levels of antibodies,” he added.
Dr Nisar said similar findings were observed by doctors at India’s first convalescent plasma bank at Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in Delhi. “3 out of 10 people who had recovered from COVID infection were found to have less than the desired antibody levels,” he said.
Dr Nisar said even recovered patients with adequate antibody response lose their antibodies within 8 weeks of time. “We should be looking for antibody levels in the recovered patients before they donate plasma to ensure that they are the right candidates for donation,” he said.
“But, Kashmir hospitals transfuse donated plasma to patients without knowing the antibody titer,” he added. Dr Nisar said lack of antibodies in recovered COVID-19 patients has implications.
“This will also affect the herd immunity which is one way to stop the virus from spreading in the population,” he added.
Follow our WhatsApp channel