IMSS to use convalescent plasma therapy as COVID-19 treatment

The Mexican Institute for Social Security (IMSS) informed that it has become the first institution in the country certified to use convalescent plasma as an alternative to treat patients with serious cases of COVID-19.

The “Effectiveness and Security of Plasma from Convalescent COVID-19 Patients with Serious Acute Respiratory Syndrome” protocol was approved by the Federal Commission for the Protection from Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS) since last April 22.

Jaime David Macedo Reynada, an expert of the “La Raza” National Medical Center’s Blood Bank, explained that this protocol aims to collect plasma from patients who have recovered from the new coronavirus that, due to its important antibody content, can be used to fight the virus in other patients.

On May 9, during the daily conference on the situation of coronavirus in Mexico, Jorge Trejo, the general director of the National Center of Blood Transfusion, explained that convalescent plasma is collected from patients who have recovered from an infection.

“The antibodies in the convalescent plasma are proteins that can help fight the infection, [however], although promising, convalescent plasma has not shown yet to be 100% effective against COVID-19,” he said.

Macedo Reynada announced that, until May 12th, the IMSS had used convalescent plasma therapy in seven patients with COVID-19 and is currently analyzing its effect in each case.

“In this first phase of the protocol, we have included four of the 12 Central Blood Banks the IMSS has in the country: Monterrey, Guadalajara, and the‘ La Raza ’and‘ Siglo XXI ’National Medical Centers, both in CDMX,” said the physician.

Oscar Zamudio Chávez, head of the laboratory of the Central Blood Bank at “La Raza,” said that the process to collect plasma “guarantees both the safety of patients who recovered from COVID-19 and those who receive it.”

One of the first convalescent plasma donors was Emmanuel Avendaño who works at a hospital in Baja California Sur and who recovered from COVID-19.

If a person who recovered from COVID-19 wants to approach the IMSS to join the plasma bank for this treatment, they must go to the next hospitals:

• Central Blood Bank La Raza. Jacarandas Ave, La Raza, 02990. CDMX

• Central Blood Bank Siglo XXI. 330 Cuauhtémoc Ave., Doctors. 06720. Mexico City
• West Central Blood Bank. 1000 Belisario Domínguez Ave., Independencia, 44340. Guadalajara, Jalisco.
• Blood Bank UMAE Cardiology Hospital. Abraham Lincoln Ave., Valle Verde, 64730, Monterrey, Nuevo León.

Source: El Universal