translated from Spanish: IMSS applies plasma treatment to 7 patients with COVID-19

The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) began a protocol for the treatment of COVID-19 patients suffering from a severe respiratory infection by convalescent plasma.
Through a statement, IMSS specialist Jaime David Macedo Reynada explained that this protocol aims to collect plasma from patients who have recovered from the virus, because this blood component contains a significant load of antibodies.
So far the plasma has been applied to seven patients with COVID-19 and the impact of this treatment on each of them is evaluated, the doctor attached to the Central Blood Bank of the National Medical Center La Raza is evaluated.
In this first phase of the protocol, he noted, four of the 12 Central Blood Banks that IMSS has in the country have been considered: Monterrey, Guadalajara, and the national medical centers of La Raza and Siglo XXI.
The specialist explained that, because Cofepris’ authorization indicates that the component traceability should be made, record the data of the person who received the plasma and the result in their laboratory variables, at this time plasma can only be administered in patients served in Social Security.
For his part, the laboratory specialist of the Central Blood Bank La Raza, Oscar Zamudio Chávez, stressed that the safety of patients recovered from COVID-19 is guaranteed during the process for plasma collection, as well as that this blood component is safe for the rightholders who will receive it.
The protocol was registered on April 5, 2020 and authorized 10 days later by the IMSS Ethics in Research, Research and Biosecurity Committees.
Subsequently, on April 22, the Federal Commission for the Protection of Health Risks (Cofepris) granted the opinion authorizing Social Security for the clinical use of plasma from convalescent patients.
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Original source in Spanish