Lebanon is slowly moving towards adopting the technique of injecting people with the Coronavirus with the blood of former patients who have recovered and developed immunity against it. Until now, the use of this technology remains limited at the Rafic Hariri Government Hospital and several private hospitals, pending the completion of studies related to its success in alleviating the burden of disease.
According to Rafic Hariri Hospital Bacterial Disease Specialist Dr. Usimah Dabouni, the hospital’s laboratories have begun to adopt the technique of extracting plasma from previous patients, in conjunction with the large increase in case registration, indicating that this This technique cannot be said to be a treatment, “but it is a way of achieving improvement. Some patients have a rate of between 30 and 50%, as is the case with several drugs that are used in this field.
Hariri Hospital laboratory numbers indicate that around ten patients have received blood transfusions before. As for the limited number, it is due to several factors, among which it stands out that this technique requires the availability of certain conditions such as age and blood group compatibility, and that the previous patient has “acquired” an “abundant” number of Anti -countermeasures, although “the cultivation of blood donation is not currently prevalent among former patients and work is being done to strengthen it,” according to Dr. Atika Berri, head of the Department of Preventive Medicine of the Ministry of Health, pointing out in contact with “Al-Akhbar” that this technique is “scientifically sound and has won approval.” The FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) regarding the possibility of reducing the severity of the disease or the time it takes, or both. He said Lebanon, like other countries, is conducting some studies to assess its efficacy and the extent of its success, because “the progression of the disease varies from patient to patient.” This technique was tested in a patient who was in critical condition and his condition has improved, but it is not possible to determine whether the cause was the injection of antibiotics or other factors.
It is noteworthy that the number of infected who have been cured of the disease so far reaches 5,195 people, so there is the possibility of benefiting from the promotion of the culture of donation among these people to strengthen related studies with the technique of anti-injection technology.
Until studies related to this technology are completed, a number of drugs that have proven relatively successful in reducing the impact of the virus are still in use in Lebanon, such as AIDS drugs and others. As for the famous drug remdesivir that is used in several countries today, batches are expected to arrive in Lebanon in a few weeks. Upcoming “grants from the World Health Organization or through multi-agent drug company efforts,” as Berri put it.
Meanwhile, hundreds of injuries continue to be recorded daily. Yesterday, the Ministry of Health announced the registration of 598 cases (588 residents and ten expatriates), bringing the number of actual injuries to 13,003. The Ministry also announced the registration of six deaths, bringing the total deaths to 177, while also Six new cases were registered among workers in the health sector. Regarding the number of cases that required hospitalization, it remained constant in 344 cases, of which 97 were in critical condition.
In light of the record of 36 injured in the “Maronite Home” in the Ain al-Rummana area of Beirut, most of them in older age groups suffering from illnesses, in addition to injuries between nuns and the work team, the Acting Government Public Health Minister Hamad Hassan announced the transfer of seven critical Van cases to government hospitals in Baabda, Baalbek, Dahr El-Bashek and Ain and Zein hospital. And among these cases, yesterday, the death of a person in the ninth decade who suffered from health problems was recorded. As for the house, an entire floor was designated to isolate the wounded, a second floor was reserved for contact quarantine and a third floor for non-contact negative cases.
