Blood Centre all set to produce serum from plasma to treat Covid-19 patients
The National Blood Centre is ready to produce serum from plasma to treat Covid-19 patients, Chulalongkorn University expert virologist Dr Yong Poovorawan said yesterday (July 6).
He explained that according to their research, plasma can also be used treat Covid-19 patients because it is a new disease that currently does not have any specific effective treatment.
“People aged between 18 and 60 years who have recovered from Covid-19 in 14 days and weigh at least 50 kilogrammes plus do not have any congenital disease can donate plasma once every two weeks,” Dr Yong said.
He said the National Blood Centre currently has 250 bags of plasma from more than 150 donors, adding that the US had used more than 10,000 bags of plasma to treat patients.
“Plasma can be kept for one year. If many people donate plasma, the National Blood Centre can produce serum, which can be kept for a longer time,” he said.
“After monitoring approximately 300 Covid-19 patients, those who have severe symptoms build up better immunity to the virus than those who have few symptoms,” he added.