Kuwait Health Minister Sheikh Dr. Bassel Al-Sabah Friday urged persons recovering from coronavirus to donate blood to use extracted plasma to treat infected people, after success of this treatment was medically proven.
"We urged all persons who recovered from the novel coronavirus to donate blood to use the plasma in treatment of infected person because it success of this treatment was proven medically," Sheikh Dr. Bassel said on its Twitter account.
Kuwait Central Blood Bank (KCBB) started on April 8 started producing plasma artificially to help treat patients suffering from Covid-19.
The process entails collecting plasma from donors who were formerly Covid-19 patients and then transfusing it into the blood of patients to strengthen their immunity, Director of KCBB Blood Transfusion Division Dr. Reem Al-Radhwan said.
"According to the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), the plasma donation from former patients should start soon after the end of their home quarantine.
"When a person contracts a disease, their bodies start producing antibodies to face down the new enemy," she said.
"In the case of the respiratory disease, Covid-19, a former patient keeps a high level of antibodies three weeks after their recovery, and then the antibodies start taking a downward slant towards the normal level.
"Therefore, the plasma generating process requires setting a time schedule for each donor," Dr. Al-Radhwan explained, noting that a recovered person can help treat three patients.