Only 60 percent. the collected plasma is suitable for administration to patients. Who cannot donate? [WE EXPLAIN]

Proven content

The healers ask: can I become a plasma donor if I have recently had a baby? Can I give them to my dad suffering from COVID-19? How many people will my plasma be enough for? We explain donors’ doubts.

1. The interest in donating plasma is increasing. Doctors, government officials and institutions are appealing for donations 
2. Determination of antibodies in plasma from convalescents is coordinated by the Białystok RCKiK, here samples from all over the country are marked and whether they can be used in therapy
3. Plasma antibodies fight SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. They can be compared to missiles that “shoot” at the coronavirus
4. You can find more about the coronavirus on the TvoiLokony home page

Already about 8 thousand. people benefited from plasma therapy in the treatment of COVID-19 – says prof. Piotr Radziwon, national consultant in the field of clinical transfusion medicine. Estimated data show that recovering from COVID-19 gave over 9,5 thousand. plasma units. However, this is still not enough.

Plasma and COVID-19. The healers’ questions

Doctors, officials of the Ministry of Health, employees of blood donation stations, as well as people whose relatives are struggling with the severe course of COVID-19, are appealing to recoverers to donate plasma.

On the other hand, those who have defeated the coronavirus have a lot of doubts about it. For example, are they able to donate plasma, what are their contraindications, and how to prepare for this procedure.

On the Facebook group “COVID-19 plasma – the needy and the donors” there are almost 4 thousand. convalescents. The questions they ask each other are detailed: is it possible to donate plasma, if you are taking any medications on a permanent basis, can I donate if I have recently had a baby, how many people will receive my plasma, can I donate my plasma to my dad who suffers from coronavirus? Can I donate plasma after a cancer?

We clarify these doubts.

Plasma – what it is and how it works against coronavirus

Plasma is the liquid part of blood. It is of great importance for the body because it helps the body to distribute, among other things, oxygen and nutrients, and to remove metabolic products.

The plasma of convalescents additionally contains antibodies directed directly at SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19. They can be compared to missiles that hit a target of disease. These antibodies appear in human blood during an infection and – importantly – remain in it after recovery.

Plasma of convalescents acts on infected persons in such a way that it helps to neutralize the activity of SARS-CoV-2 and thus increases the chance of survival of COVID-19 patients. They are administered primarily to patients who notice poor saturation of red blood cells with oxygen.

1. We cannot build immunity in one day. How to take care of the immune system? [WE EXPLAIN]

«It means that lung symptoms are already present. In general, it is possible to add people whose course is starting to be turbulent and those who have weakened immunity or who are treated for cancer or have congenital immunodeficiency. These are the patients most at risk of a severe course – it seems that they should receive plasma in the first place – explains Prof. Piotr Radziwon, national consultant in the field of clinical transfusion medicine.

Who can become a plasma donor?

Plasma donors can be people who have contracted COVID-19, have been considered cured and feel healthy. However, at least 28 days must pass from the end of symptoms. Those who have had the coronavirus asymptomatically can donate their plasma 18 days after the end of isolation and then they do not have to do PCR control tests.

Plasma can be donated by people aged 18-60, and multiple donors are accepted until the age of 65.

In order for a person to qualify for plasma donation for treatment of patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, they must provide confirmation of disease. This is at least one of the documents such as: information from the patient.gov.pl application, decision of the health department to release from quarantine with information about the disease, information on positive results of PCR smear tests, information on the results of quantitative tests of anti-SARS antibodies – CoV-2 IgG class.

On the day of plasma donation, you should be rested, well hydrated, after eating an easily digestible meal.

How is the donation going, does it hurt and take away your own immunity?

The plasma collection procedure usually takes about half an hour. This is done using the so-called plasmapheresis. The blood goes to a separator where it is separated into plasma and blood cell components – red and white cells, platelets. Only a part of this pool is taken, and the remaining elements are “donated”.

1. “I have donated the plasma four times and will continue to do so”

A single dose of 600 ml of plasma from the donor does not worsen the condition.

The donation does not harm the immunity, as the donor’s organism is left with enough plasma and antibodies. This medical procedure does not hurt, only the moment of insertion of the cannula may be a certain discomfort.

In which cases cannot plasma be donated?

According to the Ministry of Health criteria, people cannot donate plasma during serious, active, chronic or recurrent diseases. They include cardiovascular diseases – apart from healed congenital defects, diseases of the nervous system. Another obstacle are blood clotting disorders, fainting, and seizures.

People with malignant neoplasm, diagnosed diabetes or infectious diseases are excluded from the group of plasma donors.

Donors may not be those who, from January 1980 to December 1996, spent a total of six months or more in Great Britain, Northern Ireland or France and who had transfused blood or blood components there after January 1, 1980. It has to do with the “mad cow disease”, or spongy degeneration of the brain, which was prevalent at that time.

If the person willing to donate plasma has been in a malaria-affected area for a continuous period of at least six months, he will also not be eligible. Plasma cannot be donated by patients after corneal transplantation, people treated with preparations obtained from human pituitary glands, and those with mental disorders, including those caused by psychoactive substances.

These are not all contraindications, there are many of them. The doctor will ask about others during the interview prior to plasma donation.

Women after childbirth and people taking medications

Plasma cannot be donated by pregnant women and up to the sixth month after giving birth. If more than six months have passed since the baby was born, blood donation and blood therapy centers will perform additional tests for such mothers.

If the convalescents are taking any medications and want to donate plasma, the doctor will decide to do so, as it all depends on the type of drug therapy. It is known, however, that it is possible to donate plasma without any problems when using hormonal contraceptives and medications during the menopause. It is important to inform your doctor about any medications you are taking – including supplements.

How to proceed after the collection and is it possible to donate plasma multiple times?

Apply pressure to the injection site immediately after collecting the material, and do not carry heavy loads on the same day. Custom donors are asked to stay at the blood donation station for another half hour.

If any disturbing symptoms occur within 48 hours of blood collection, the center should be notified.

Plasma can be donated more than once, but with the proviso that it can be done up to three times at weekly intervals. And if the donor has a sufficiently high level of antibodies, plasma can be donated every two weeks.

Is it possible to donate plasma to a specific person and how many people will it be given?

Plasma donated by donors goes to a common pool and is given to people in the most severe condition. Thus, it is not possible to donate your material to selected family members. Also because they may have a different blood group.

1. Blood groups – characteristics, inheritance, serological conflict [EXPLAIN]

Donor plasma is divided into portions and transferred to hospitals that order them. One plasma donation is a dose for three patients with severe COVID-19.

Where to donate plasma and does it always contain antibodies?

The amount of antibodies from different donors is different. There are cases where, despite having COVID-19, some convalescents have little or no antibodies.

Plasma may only be donated in blood donation and haemotherapy centers. It will not be donated in private health care facilities.

Regional blood donation and blood treatment centers recommend that those willing to donate plasma should first contact by phone so that their employees can initially assess whether there are any contraindications for donation. Then the date and place of collection are determined.

There are more and more people willing to donate plasma

Thanks to plasma therapy, about 1,5 thousand people received help from convalescents until October this year. patients with COVID-19 all over Poland – this is how Prof. Piotr Radziwon, director of the Regional Center for Blood Donation and Blood Treatment in Białystok.

But there are no exact calculations in this matter. It is also known that sometimes one person is given more than one unit of plasma.

It is important for blood donation centers to measure the amount of antibodies in the plasma as soon as possible. The more that there are more and more convalescents declaring readiness to donate plasma.

– There are even those who have not fully recovered yet and are already asking when they will be able to come, so this builds us up. But, unfortunately, the amount of plasma we have and collect is not enough to protect everyone who needs it, said Prof. Piotr Radziwon.

Plasma from convalescents still needed

Why is there still too little plasma? It turns out that about 20-30 percent. people who donated plasma after contracting COVID-19 did not develop antibodies. Or there were so few of them that no research showed them. Therefore, only 60 percent. the collected plasma is suitable for application to patients.

In order to facilitate the collection of plasma, blood donation stations will soon be equipped with the so-called separators to separate plasma during blood donation.

You may be interested in:

1. Where did SARS-CoV-2 come from? A surprising discovery in laboratory freezers
2. Sanepidy will no longer provide data from poviats. We will only know the number of infections nationwide
3. «People don’t want to come out. They walk the streets and infect others »[LETTER TO MEDTvoiLokony]

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