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Professor Béla Merkely, rector of Semmelweis University, seemed to have stated the other day that the coronavirus vaccine already exists in six variants and may be on the market in two months, but there is no therapy, that is, a cure, for the plague. of our time. But then is there therapy or not?
There is therapy, we are working on it in collaboration with Semmelweis University. Patients who are severely affected by the virus and are hospitalized and then receive plasma drawn from the blood of a convalescent patient in a few days will help them enormously during this difficult period. They have a good chance of not falling further into the disease and can avoid having to switch to a ventilator. This is the goal of plasma therapy, in which it acts as an effective supportive therapy.
If one is floating between life and death, whatever therapy promises to improve is worth using.
This is true. At the time of the first wave, many patients who were on plasma treatment were in the terminal phase, which means that they had already given up on it, and even among them, there were those who had been helped by this treatment, who recovered in a good way. fairly slow but sure.
The first articles about his therapy were published around April, five months later. Is there any statistically evaluable material already available on the success of the method?
There are two things. First, we are conducting a survey. We designed the so-called pilot study for twenty patients, of which we saw that the therapy was operable, there were enough donors, and it was safe, uncomplicated and mostly effective, which we only assume for the moment based on laboratory parameters. But the treating physician’s colleagues say that the patient is visibly better the day after plasma administration. All of this is enough for many people to slowly recover afterward, of course, and unfortunately not for everyone. Sixteen of our twenty-three diseased samples survived the disease, that is, they were cured. These data are in line with international indicators, as plasma therapy is not the only one developed and used by us. In the United States, for example, in a large number of samples, 5,000 patients received a similar therapy with the same percentage result.
There must be a kind of competition between the research workshops …
Yes of course. One is in the area of who can make it available to their own population before; We were quick on that, we put the plan on the table on March 24 and we have already applied the procedure, which is a clinical trial available to everyone, for three weeks. under the leadership of Semmelweis University. Subsequently, the St. George Hospital in Fehérvár, the St. Barbara Hospital in Tatabánya and, more recently, the University of Szeged were joined. There are no patients there yet, but if they do, they will be treated. As long as there is plasma, we can supply everyone. However, the plasma is running low, which is wrong.
Because it can only be obtained from the blood of people who have had the disease.
And not all of them. After all, many people do not make antibodies. Why this is so, we are now launching a research grant to find out. We have also observed that elite athletes are easily infected due to their lifestyle, but they can also go through the infection without particular complications. We still don’t know the reason for that.
I know an athlete who has contracted the coronavirus twice. Is this theoretically possible?
We have now launched an investigation to re-measure whether those who have recovered have residual symptoms. And sadly, early measurements show they are at 42 percent. Surprisingly, this has not happened with many known viral infections so far. The natural history of the coronavirus is still largely unknown. We also come across quite unusual patterns.
Does Social Security support your therapy?
Not.
So whoever comes here has to pay.
No, the treatment is free.
I do not understand.
The Ministry of Innovation and Technology finances our project through an individual tender. Everything was split off at an unprecedented speed, in a week we not only had the tender but also the contract.
It is widely publicized that blood plasma collected in Hungary is sold abroad at a good price. Is this true?
All plasma extracted by our consortium is used in Hungary. We do not take a gram abroad.
Why could such horror news spread?
Because plasma is big business. International plasma traffic is higher in dollar terms than aircraft exports. Not now, before the epidemic! There is a lot of money in plasma as it is in short supply. Let’s not give it to the outside!
If you want it, it has national security implications.
Four thousand to five hundred people were infected in the first wave, four hundred and fifty people asked us to donate plasma, that is, ten percent of the total number. This is not a bad proportion as we can only connect with people through the media. Donation of plasma is voluntary and free. Much more worrying was that only forty-five of the donated plasma could be used by the four hundred and fifty people, all of whom had no antibodies produced or had other diseases. So that’s only one percent. Plasma is an extremely valuable substance. And let’s not forget that the plasma used in therapy is blood type specific.
When did the idea come up that plasma from cured patients who had an infection could be used as therapy?
In March, while running, but this may have been a well-known story. I sent my idea to Professor Ferenc Jakab, the head of the Coronavirus Research Action Group, and when I came back from the race twenty minutes later, his sms was waiting for his heureka!
Are hospitals really reluctant to use plasma therapy?
Look, for one thing, they don’t even know me, but I don’t want to get into that. Let’s say that plasma therapy itself is a centuries-old invention. However, we have updated it. It is always the responsibility of the treating physician how he treats his patient. Our only job is to have an antiviral serum available.
Isn’t medicine made of plasma?
This is a longer term project. The problem is that plasma is difficult to access. There is little, the amount depends on the number of people healed. It is unrealistic that one day the patient will go to the pharmacy and ask for a vial of blood plasma suitable for treating coronavirus disease.
Anyway, what do you think of the current state of the epidemic in Hungary?
The first wave was about the presence of a viral nodule, which usually develops in health care institutions and nursing homes. The virus was not very present in the population. It did not spread. In comparison, we can now see that, without special foci of infection, people become ill individually, apparently mainly among vulnerable populations: students, athletes, residents of nursing homes. And from here they are scattered everywhere. Now there are many people walking around us who are carriers of the virus and have no idea from whom they got it. This is the classic epidemic threat. In this sense, the second wave is more dangerous than the first.
I think we are worse than we seem.
In the first round, we received 23 requests for plasma in four months. Now 11-12 in two weeks. This is 88-96 in four months, so we would need a lot of plasma. But there are hardly any donors, there are no patients who have recovered. We are not too harsh at all. We can trust two things. One is that people are relatively disciplined. If everyone wears a mask and puts it on their nose, it will significantly inhibit the spread of the virus. This is because the pathogen spreads from the lining of the throat, where we exhale. Outbreak control only works if everyone is involved. Another factor that increases optimism is that we are increasingly aware of the nature of the virus, improving the effectiveness of therapy. I can’t make a credible statement about the vaccine because we don’t make it ourselves.
Isn’t this epidemic like the rest that once suddenly disappears on its own?
– We do not know.
– Other. Do you think the Olympics will be held in Tokyo next summer?
“I trust him a lot, simply because we are becoming more adept at living with the epidemic. Just because there is an epidemic does not necessarily mean that the world will stop working. Blocking is not the answer. Yes, we need Olympics, we need competitions, we need to live, we need to work, we have to go to school.
– As Avery Brundage, president of the IOC, said at the 1972 Games after the Black September terrorist attack: The Games must go on. The Games must continue.
– Exactly. But it is also likely that nothing will ever be the same as before the epidemic, a different state of equilibrium will be reached. You can also write that we are launching another study at the University of Physical Education next week, asking sports unions what proportion of infected athletes they have (there will be an anonymous circular question) and from this we can filter how vulnerable the athlete population is. now. Because at the time of the first wave, it was very. This data can help keep the sport running. Because there will only be an Olympic Games if we can fix it safely despite the presence of the virus.
Would you request a donor? You can do that [email protected] or on the phone number +36 70 363 8768!
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