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Plasma Treatment: Alternative treatment against COVID-19

Plasma Treatment: Alternative treatment against COVID-19

Top Doctors
Top Doctors editorial
Top Doctors
Created by: Top Doctors editorial
Edited by: TOP DOCTORS® at 01/07/2020

Plasma treatment to treat convalescent patients has been known for 100 years.


Plasma has been used to improve the situation of people who have had complications from various diseases, such as the Hanta virus.


In 1918 it was used to care for patients who contracted the Spanish Flu, one of the largest Pandemics that arose after the outbreak of Influenza. Currently, this treatment has become important, as it has yielded positive results in people with Coronavirus.


It consists of using the blood of a person who has had the disease and has recovered. This process begins by removing red blood cells, platelets and other supplements so that only Plasma remains, a substance that contains water, salts, antibodies and proteins, which will be injected into COVID-19 infected.


In Chile, there is already a network of health professionals who apply this technique. Recovered patients between 18 and 70 years of age have the possibility of donating Plasma in some health institutions. In addition, it is known that this compound will be distributed in Private and Public Health Centers, in turn, the Specialist will determine what is the best treatment for each patient according to the severity of the disease.


To be checked

Experts consider that the administration of this treatment is not complex, but rather relatively simple, since it takes around two hours to transfer, however, the difficulty is collecting Plasma, as well as accepting donor patients and carrying out meticulous examinations to rule out any failure in treatment.


It is important to mention that, not all patients are candidates for Plasma, in some there may be a quick response with a clear tendency to recovery, but in others it will be very slow or null, for this reason research on its effectiveness is still ongoing. .

 

For the time being, the authorities' recommendation is to stay home and resort to Telemedicine if required, in order not to expose yourself to a COVID-19 infection.


Top Doctors launched e-Consultation, a tool that allows consulting a Specialist through a chat or Video consultation.

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