Plasma therapy for the treatment of coronavirus has already been started in many countries of the world.
This is a very old method in medical science.
This method usually collects blood from people who have recovered from a viral infection. The blood is then transfused into a patient with a similar viral infection.
The method was used to treat the Spanish flu epidemic in 1917 and measles in the 1930s. More recently, it has been used to treat diseases such as Ebola, SARS, and H1N1.
More than 4.5 million people have been infected and more than 300,000 have died since the coronavirus began spreading from Wuhan, China, last December. More than 20,000 people have been affected in Bangladesh. 298 people died.
But no fully effective drug or vaccine against the virus has yet been discovered.
What is plasma therapy?
The aqueous part of human blood is called plasma. This yellow plasma contains about 55% of the blood.
People who have fully recovered from being infected with the coronavirus develop a type of antibody in their body.
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| A person who recovered from coronavirus is giving his plasma in a hospital in New York |
If these antibodies collected from their body through plasma are applied to the body of a person infected with coronavirus, then his body develops those antibodies or immunity. Then he also recovered.
Physicians will thus collect plasma or plasma from the body of a coronavirus and apply it to the body of a person infected with the coronavirus. As a result, his body will develop immunity.
Dr MA Khan told the BBC: "Plasma contains many types of antibodies. When someone is infected with a disease, this type of antibody protein is made against that virus or bacteria. That protein makes a kind of coating around the germ and makes it useless. That's how antibodies work. "
Effective antibodies in one's body will be transferred to others through plasma therapy.
How to give plasma therapy?
Doctors hope that the plasma collected from the body of a healthy patient can be given to two to three sick patients. Plasma is being collected from the bodies of three coronary doctors.
Dr. MA Khan says, "For the time being, we will only collect plasma for a few days. We have to test how many antibodies are in these plasmas. It has to be done using a special reagent, they have been brought from Spain."
"Then we have to decide which type of patient to give the plasma to. Initially, we want to give it to critically ill or dying patients, especially those who have shortness of breath. The amount of oxygen in the blood is reduced."
"It simply came to our notice then. But there is no effective treatment for coronavirus. As a result, there is no difficulty in applying this method. Plasma therapy is being relied upon in many countries of the world. If this therapy is applied before being taken to the ICU, good results can come.
He said plasma therapy has been successfully applied in many countries, including the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, India and Malaysia. The success rate there is quite good. In April, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the application of plasma therapy.
"Patients who start having shortness of breath after hospitalization can be given good results if they are given a bag or 200 millimeters of plasma," he said. Because plasma makes antibodies against the virus that is in the blood of the body, ”he says.
Although they were given six months for this study, Dr. Khan hopes to complete their test in two months. They hope to have it officially applied to all types of patients by the end of June.
China claims test success
It was first tested in China after the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Shenzhen People's Hospital published an article on 26 March. China's National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases is in this hospital. It describes the results of treatment performed on five patients aged 36 to 63 years.
The blood of five people who had fully recovered from Kovid-Nineteen was transfused into the bodies of these five patients. Chinese researchers claim that all of them have fully recovered after 12 days of treatment.
The success of this approach has not yet been fully proven in extensive clinical trials. Even then, scientists see some potential in it.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of convoluted plasma therapy. Only critically ill Kovid-Nineteen patients can use this therapy in emergency treatment, according to the Los Angeles Times. Houston Methodist Hospital was the first in the United States to use this therapy.
The challenge of plasma collection
MA Khan, a professor of hematology, says, “There is still a lack of awareness about plasma donation. Those who give plasma have no reason to fear. There are no side effects. Rather, his plasma may help others to recover. It's like giving blood. "
There is still a lack of awareness about plasma donation
But he thinks plasma collection has become a big challenge for them. Because they are not getting a response from the people who have recovered yet. For this, plasma is being collected by contacting the doctors.
"We need to have a plasma bank ready before it can be fully implemented. So that many can be given therapy. That's why those who have recovered from the coronavirus must come forward. "
He called on the police, including various forces, to provide plasma to those who have recovered after being infected with the coronavirus.
He also said that re-agents and kits for antibody testing are very expensive.
"The whole process of plasma collection cannot be successful without the participation of the general public and the cooperation of the government," he said.
Anyone who has recovered after being infected with coronavirus can donate plasma by contacting the Blood Transfusion Department of any corona dedicated hospital.
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