Egypt, like the United States and a handful of other countries, is seeking to combat the pandemic in its component parts by employing convalescent plasma, the watery fluid in the blood of recovered patients that is packed with antibodies. The concept is to collect the plasma and inject it into other patients to give them an immune boost that helps fight the same infection. The clinical network is divided on the use of plasma to treat Covid-19, yet supporters say the strategy has proven effective in small studies to treat other infectious diseases, adding Ebola and SARS. Ihab Serageldin, director of Egypt’s National Blood Transfusion Center, said he believes convalescent plasma is a promising remedy as the breed continues to grow, produce and mass-distribute an effective vaccine. Since April, he has spearheaded the Egyptian crusade urging the country’s more than 78,000 known cured patients to donate plasma. To date, more than 200 more people have donated plasma, each offering 800 ml of the liquid divided into 4 bags, which are administered to two patients at the same time. Serageldin said there is no knowledge yet about the good luck rate of the Egyptian plasma project.
SOURCE: TRT WORLD
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