The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) called on patients who managed to recover from COVID-19 to make a blood plasma donation, so that it can be used as a treatment alternative to people in severe condition because of coronavirus.
“IMSS is the first institution in the country certified to treat patients with convalescent plasma. We call on people recovered from COVID-19 to donate plasma, as it contains an important load of antibodies,” tweeted the Institute’s director, Zoé Robledo.
.@Tu_IMSS is the first institution in the country certified to treat patients with convalescent plasma #COVID19
We encourage people recovered from #COVID2019 to #DonaPlasma, as it contains a significant load of antibodies. Know the protocol??pic.twitter.com/cqNyNdGunq
— Zoé Robledo (@zoerobledo) May 11, 2020
In a statement over the weekend, the Institute reported that plasma treatment is already applied to 7 patients with COVID-19, and their response is evaluated.
Patients with a diagnosis confirmed by the PCR test are contacted through the national database of patients with a diagnosis confirmed by the PCR test, potential donors are contacted, IMSS said.
“They are told what the protocol is and if they agree to make the plasma donation, they are taken a sample to determine that the infection was found negative,” the Institute said.
Although IMSS said it applies that means of contact, it also called recovered patients to make plasma donation at these sites:
The Central Blood Bank located on Avenida Jacarandas without number, Colonia La Raza in Mexico City.
The Central Blood Bank CMN Siglo XXI, located at Cuauhtémoc 330 Avenue, Colonia Doctors, also in the capital of the country.
The Central Blood Bank CMN Occidente, located at Avenida Belisario Domínguez 1000, Colonia Independencia, in Guadalajara, Jalisco.
The Blood Bank of the UMAE Hospital of Cardiology 34 Av. Abraham Lincoln s/n Colonia Valle Verde, in Monterrey, Nuevo León.
For more information, you can call 8002222668, or write to the email [email protected]
“We can extract convalescent plasma from any patient who is registered on the Online Notification System platform for Influenza Epidemiological Surveillance, that meets the eligibility criteria and agrees to be a donor, whether or not they are entitled to, always with absolute respect for their privacy and confidentiality,” explained Dr. Jaime David Macedo Reynada, attached to the Hematopoietic Trunk Cells Bank of the Central Blood Bank of the National Medical Center (CMN) La Raza.
“Because COFEPRIS authorization indicates that component traceability should be done, record the data of the person who received the plasma and the result in their laboratory variables, vital signs, clinical and radiographic variables, at this time plasma can only be administered in patients served in Social Security.”
Dr. Emmanuel Avendaño Castañeda, who worked in the area of Hematology of IMSS General Zone Hospital No.1, in La Paz, Baja California Sur, recovered from COVID-19 and was one of the first donors of convalescent plasma, recounted imSS.
After 27 days of the onset of symptoms and passing the period of home isolation, he decided to accept the invitation to participate in the protocol to donate plasma.
“In the face of a fast-moving pandemic that has fatal complications in patients, treatment alternatives such as convalescent plasma arise, which in some studies has been shown to be effective; I’ve decided to get into protocol, that this may be an opportunity for a serious patient, it’s worth every effort,” the doctor said.
“I saw it as an indirect way to thank the fact that my clinical course allowed me to be at home, recover and waiting for someone who receives the plasma, to have this opportunity as well.”
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