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The Department of Health (DOH) 7 has already released a total of 74 units of convalescent plasma not only for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in central Visayas, but also for patients in Manila, the city of Bacolod and the administrative region of Caraga.
Collection and preparation of convalescent plasma at DOH 7’s subnational blood center began on July 8, 2020.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, a spokesperson for DOH 7, said convalescent plasma can help boost the immune system of a Covid-19 patient who is critically ill or severely affected, but there is no evidence yet that it can cure the disease. .
“We are not yet done with our follow-up on the status of patients who received convalescent plasma. It depends on the doctor requesting how many units and this is calculated based on the patient’s body weight ”, he said.
The process involves the transfusion of blood plasma from a recovered Covid-19 patient to a sick Covid-19 patient using an apheresis machine.
Loreche said they have collected 510 units of convalescent plasma. However, only 340 units could be used.
His regular donors include members of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines who have recovered from the disease, he said.
Loreche said they test blood for infectious diseases like hepatitis B and C, malaria, syphilis, human immunodeficiency virus, and Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
She said that once the blood is cleared for these diseases, they check the IgG titer, which measures the presence and amount of antibodies in the blood. High IgG levels can mean long-term infection.
IgG stands for Immunoglobulin G, the most common type of antibody. The DOH said that IgG antibodies remain in the blood after an infection has passed. These indicate that an individual may have had Covid-19 in the recent past and has developed antibodies to protect themselves from future infections.
Once the blood passes all the tests, the convalescent plasma is ready for use.
Loreche said that the majority of patients who receive convalescent plasma have moderate to critical illness.
On Monday, October 5, DOH 7 registered 22 new cases and no deaths from Covid-19.
Central Visayas has 1,238 active cases of which 350 are in Cebu City, 143 in Lapu-Lapu City, 104 in Mandaue City, 111 in Bohol, 465 in Cebu Province, 64 in Negros Oriental and one in Siquijor.
The total death toll in the region is 1,291: 675 in the city of Cebu, 101 in the city of Lapu-Lapu, 143 in the city of Mandaue, 360 in the province of Cebu, eight in Bohol and four in Negros Oriental .
DOH 7 also reported 94 new recoveries of which 56 are from Cebu Province, 24 from Cebu City and 14 from Mandaue City. (EDT)
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