The Ministry of Health announced on Friday that clinical trials using blood plasma from recovered coronavirus (COVID-19) patients to treat active virus cases have reported increased recovery rates.
Active COVID-19 patients injected with blood plasma were reportedly also less dependent on ventilators, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Health has called on those who have recovered from the virus to donate their blood plasma to help treat others. It has allocated five centres across the country to receive donors, including the National Blood Transfusion Centre, and various centres in Alexandria, Tanta, Minya, and Luxor.
The donors should be between 18 and 60 years of age, and weigh over 50kg. They are also required to have proof of a positive PCR test for the virus, alongside proof for two negative tests. The ministry also stated that the plasma donation should be conducted 14 days after the last negative test, with no symptoms of the virus present.
The clinical trials were conducted by a National Blood Transfusion Services research team. They follow the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announcement that plasma from recovering patients could potentially be used as treatment for critical coronavirus cases.
Research in numerous studies across the world have shown that plasma reportedly contains antibodies to the coronavirus, which may alleviate symptoms in active patients.
