Question

What immunological technique was being used to fight Diptheria in the story of Balto, that is being used today to fight CoVid-19. What is it called, how does it work and what is the immunological principle and basis for its effectiveness?

Answer 1

It is a convalescent plasma therapy or plasma transfusion.

In this technique, plasma was separated from the blood donated by the person who cures the disease. Plasma has the antibodies for the causative disease organisms. Then, this plasma is given to the person suffering from the disease. The principle behind this technique is the presence of the antibodies in the plasma will help in fighting with the causative agent in the receiver patient.

The normal individual takes the normal span of 10 to 12 days to synthesized the antibodies against the infection. For COVID two antibodies will be produced IgM and IgG. First IgM will be synthesized and then IgG will be produced. After synthesized the antibodies person becomes immune to the COVID. In convalescent plasma therapy, these IgM and IgM are transfers from the plasma to the donor patient.