In Turkey, plasma donations pile up to help virus fight

Turkish Red Crescent has so far collected 5,000 units of plasma compounds from the blood of COVID-19 survivors, the organisation said yesterday.

Some 3,970 units of plasma compounds were created from 1,275 donors, who previously contracted COVID-19 and recovered from it, Turkish Red Crescent President Kerem Kinik said according to Anadolu.

“As of now, 1,275 people donated plasma to the Red Crescent. Some of our donors have donated more than once. Apart from the Red Crescent, 427 people have also donated to research hospitals across the country, and around 1,000 units of plasma were created from those donations,” he said.

Kinik stated that the first plasma is being taken from a patient 14 days after the person tests negative for the coronavirus and regains their health.

COVID-19: Turkey university begins passive immunisation

“Some reports suggested antibodies from donors who had recovered from the disease could be used to treat acutely ill patients,” he added.

Last month, Oxford University cancelled some blood donations in order to divert resources to COVID-19 trials. The university announced that the blood donation resources will be used to support a national plasma trial.

Turkey confirmed 150,593 coronavirus cases as of yesterday. More than 111,000 of them have fully recovered, while the death toll stands at 4,171.

Since the virus emerged in China last December, it has spread to 188 countries and regions.

The global death toll from the novel coronavirus has exceeded 316,000, with more than 4.75 million confirmed cases, according to a running tally by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.