Doctors and scientists are looking for every possible way to help patients with coronavirus infection. Old treatments that have been effective in other outbreaks that have occurred around the world are returning to favour. Will recovery plasma be effective?
The national consultant for clinical transfusion medicine, Professor Marek Radziwon, has appealed to people who have undergone coronavirus infection to report to blood donation stations. The blood plasma thus obtained can help patients fight the pathogen. Why plasma? The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of plasma extracted from people who have won the battle against coronavirus as a treatment for COVID-19. Plasma administration has already been carried out in China, Korea, Russia, Italy and Spain, among others, with successful results. The use of plasma from recovered patients has been widely used during Ebola or RBCsRS outbreaks. In Poland, the Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration will be the first to administer plasma. The project is headed by Prof Grażyna Rydzewska. As Prof Rydzewska emphasises in interviews, the bioethics committee has given its approval for the collection of blood from recovered patients and the extraction of plasma.
Why plasma?
Blood plasma is devoid of red blood cells (erythrocytes). Suspended in the plasma are so-called antibodies, which are immune proteins that the body produces after undergoing an infection. The immune proteins are the body's specific protective shield, which, when a repeat infection occurs, activates and takes up the fight against an already known pathogen more quickly. Healers have a pool of antibodies in their plasma, the administration of which to a sick person can help fight the coronavirus and speed up recovery.
The Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration is appealing on its social media profile for people who have undergone coronavirus infection and are willing to donate blood to obtain plasma to contact them. It should be noted that the method of administering plasma to recovering patients is one of the oldest therapeutic methods used in the world.
"If:
- You have survived COVID-19 disease, you have a double negative test for SARS-CoV-2 taken at least 24 hours apart (nasopharyngeal swab).
- You weigh not less than 50 kg.
- You are male.
- You are of legal age and under 65 years of age.
- You wish to help a fellow human being.
Call us on +48 515 633 105 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. or email COVID-19OSOCZE@gmail.com."
The plasma collection site is located at the Centre for Blood Donation and Haemotherapy on the premises of CCH MSWiA.