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Such a short message (SMS) goes to people who have recovered from covid-19 coronavirus infection. The message was sent by MA Khan, head of a technical subcommittee established by the ministry of health to study the possibility of plasma therapy in the treatment of patients with Kovid-19. “Plasma collection will begin starting next Saturday (May 16),” said Khan, a professor in the hematology department of Dhaka Medical College. The Ministry of Health has given a list of people who have recovered Kovid-19. From that list we are now trying to collect plasma. This collection for experimental application. The test will be run on 90 people in the first phase. First, plasma will be collected from interested people in Dhaka city.
On April 26, the World Aid Organization (WHO) released a report listing the ongoing Covid-19 experimental treatment. There are 33 specific types of treatment and ‘other’ drugs. In all of them, a single drug or a combination of drugs is used to treat two types of drugs. The list also includes many experimental therapies, including plasma and stem cells.
The Ministry of Health formed a technical subcommittee on April 18 to study the possibility of this therapy. The committee has prepared a protocol for experimental research and presented it to the Bangladesh Medical Research Center (BMRC). The organization approves such proposals after examining the ethical aspects. However, the committee received moral permission from Dhaka Medical College Hospital for experimental research. That is why the plasma collection will start now.
Aminul Islam, director (hospitals and clinics) of the health department, told Prothom Alo: ‘Plasma will now be used experimentally. It will be implemented after seeing its effectiveness. It can take two to three months.
The aqueous part of the blood is called plasma. Excluding all three types of particles, the rest of the blood is plasma. Plasma is approximately 55% of the blood of a vertebrate.
Nazrul Islam, a former vice chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and a virologist, said that the body of a person recovering from the virus develops an immune system called antibodies. These antibodies become the antidote for the new patient. The recovered patient’s antibodies help the newly infected patient fight the disease. Plasma therapy involves inserting a liquid, light yellowish portion of the blood of a newly recovered patient into the body of an infected person.
Professor Nazrul Islam said that if a recovered person gives juice, there is no danger of damaging it.
Sources from the plasma-related technical committee said the plasma will be collected at the Blood Transfusion Center at Dhaka Medical School Hospital starting Saturday. Plasma will be taken after some plasma donor testing according to WHO guidelines. Donors will be screened for hepatitis B, C, HIV, syphilis, and malaria.
Nazrul Islam said: “Someone may have recovered from the crown, but if you have these, it will be horrible for anyone who has plasma on their body.” The blood of these patients will be collected first to see if their antibodies have been produced. The kit necessary to test it is being brought from Spain. Committee members hope that next Saturday will arrive. A doctor takes him to the national committee. He is giving it for free. It costs six lakh rupees.
Plasma collection requires a separate kit. Each of them costs 12 thousand rupees. Only one kit can be used for a healed person. However, one person’s plasma can be administered to at least two people.
Professor AA Khan said that 800 ml of plasma can be taken from the body. It is possible to give 600 ml to 200 ml to three people. Sometimes it happens that one has to pay twice. In that case, fewer patients can be administered.
What type of patient will receive plasma?
Plasma therapy will be administered only to the patient who is severely affected by Covid-19. MA Khan said: “Priority will be given to patients who have entered the hospital with shortness of breath and are dying. Our goal is to try not to let the patient receive ventilation. If applied to a patient who has received ventilation, results won’t be very good, maybe they won’t be.
The experimental study will be carried out on a total of 90 patients. Of these, 45 will receive plasma and the rest will not. This will be done to see the difference between the two. Since Dhaka Medical College Hospital has been converted to Kovid Hospital, patients will be transferred from here. In addition to this, Kuwait Friendship Hospital has also expressed interest, so its patients can also be taken. Those that will be given will be monitored. This job will be relatively easier at Dhaka Medical, so patients here will also be taken.
According to the Plasma Committee, the estimated cost of this treatment is Rs 8-10,000. However, if the plasma taken from one person is administered to two people, it is possible to obtain up to five thousand rupees. However, experimental plasma therapy will be administered free of charge.
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