Romania’s healthcare professionals want to boost stocks of blood plasma for very ill coronavirus patients ahead of winter.
They want more people who have recovered from Covid-19 to become donors amid a spike in cases.
Convalescent plasma contains antibodies that are believed to help other sufferers fight the virus.
However, just 2,500 Romanians who had the virus have donated plasma in the last since month since the first donation, according to a medical equipment company.
Romania has reported about 212,500 cases of Covid-19 of which just short of 152,000 have recovered, according to the latest figures.
Romania is well below average European levels according to a study by Besmax Pharma Distribution SRL which works with the health ministry.
The company delivered 18 blood donation kits to be used at blood transfusion centers in Romania.
Romania has a rate of 2.34 doses of plasma from recovered patients to each 100 Covid-19 patient.
The European Union average is 12 doses for each 100 infected patients.
The health ministry and Besmax Pharma Distribution signed a protocol for the donation kits and the company also trained staff to perform the transfusions.
Romania started harvesting plasma and giving transfusions to severely ill SARS-CoV-2
patients on April 26.
The National Institute of Transfusion Hematology says 1,060 plasma donations were obtained through the modern transfusion method and 1,409 from the classic blood transfusion procedure.
Convalescent plasma contains antibodies, which the body creates to fight infections. Once someone recovers from a confirmed positive case of Covid-19, they’re able to donate their plasma, which contains antibodies for the coronavirus.
