Chennai: Around 80 per cent of people with coronavirus in India are asymptomatic and this is matter of worry, a senior Indian Council ofĀ Medical Research (ICMR) scientist has said.
“80 per cent of the cases are asymptomatic. Our biggest worry is on their detection. There is no other way than contact-tracing,” said Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, was quoted as saying by NDTV.
ICMR has received 99 applications from institutes expressing interest in participating in a randomised controlled study to assess the safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma to limit complications associated with COVID-19.
ICMR launched the call for intent for the study titled “A Phase II, Open Label, Randomized Controlled Study” to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of Convalescent Plasma to Limit COVID19 Associated Complications’ on 12 April, 2020.
“The response has been overwhelming and we have received 99 applications expressing their interest in participating in the study. The generic protocol has been approved by the Drug Controller General India (DCGI),’ ICMR said while also making public the approval letter,” the council said.
It added that each institute that wished to participate in the study would need to mandatorily obtain ethics clearance locally, through their Institutional Ethics Committee.