Contents
Prof. Marek Radziwon, national consultant for clinical transfusion medicine, appealed to several hundred people in Poland who had been infected with coronavirus and have antibodies to report to a blood donation station and donate blood. Plasma of convalescents is a hope for those most severely suffering from COVID-19 disease. Taking blood from cured people starts today in Poland.
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the treatment of COVID-19 with a specially prepared plasma preparation obtained from people who had been infected with coronavirus. This type of therapy has already been used by doctors from Asia (including China and South Korea) in their patients. In China, blood plasma transfusions were performed by 15 people who were in critical or critical condition. Most of them improved their health. The transfusion helped bring down the fever. The cough and breathing difficulties also disappeared.
- Also Read: The FDA has approved a promising treatment. They will use the blood of those who have recovered
Recently, the method has been tested by medical institutions in the United States, Our Country, Italy and Spain. Plasma has already been administered to patients during previous epidemics (SARS, MERS and Ebola), at a time when drugs effective in combating the spreading viruses were not yet available.
In Poland, the Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration in Warsaw was the first to start the project of administering heal plasma to patients suffering from COVID-19, which on Saturday announced on its Facebook that it had been preparing to administer plasma to patients for two weeks. The project is managed by prof. Grażyna Rydzewska, and the coordinators are doctors Adam Tworek and Krzysztof Jaroń.
As explained on TVN24 by prof. Wiesław Jędrzejczak, hematologist from the Department and Clinic of Hematology, Oncology and Internal Diseases of the Medical University of Warsaw, a man infected with coronavirus during recovery produces antibodies (immune proteins) that are found in plasma. If blood is taken from it and plasma is isolated from it, and then it is transfused to a sick person, then a certain amount of these antibodies can be delivered – assuming that they will inactivate the virus.
The World Health Organization, however, informed during yesterday’s press conference that antibodies were not detected in all cured patients.
- Read more: WHO: Not all coronavirus cured have antibodies and are immune to new infection
An appeal to people who have recovered
Prof. dr hab. n. med. Piotr Marek Radziwon, national consultant for clinical transfusion medicine on TVN24 admitted:
– None of our patients has gotten plasma yet, because we’ve had these convalescents for a short time, a a period of at least two weeks after recovery and two negative results must elapse to qualify as a plasma donor. As of today, we already have a well-developed procedure and all blood donation centers in Poland can start the procedure of collecting plasma from people who have already recovered, while clinical use is left to clinicians and here we will closely cooperate with them – so that the plasma actually goes to people who will help the most.
– At the moment, I would only appeal to all people who have recovered and feel well to contact the nearest blood donation center for additional information and preliminary qualifications – said Prof. Radziwon.
The editorial board recommends:
- Young doctors come to the rescue, that is, the Crown from the Head
- Antimalarial drug to treat COVID-19? French scientists are looking for answers
- Will the coronavirus go away when it’s warmer?
Have a question about the coronavirus? Send them to the following address: [email protected]. You will find a daily updated list of answers HERE: Coronavirus – frequently asked questions and answers.