Egypt has begun clinical trials using blood plasma from recovered coronavirus (COVID-19) patients in a bid to find an effective treatment, according to a Ministry of Health statement on Thursday.
Minister of Health Hala Zayed said that it is anticipated the blood plasma from the recovered patients contains virus antibodies useful for treating critical cases. She added that Egypt has sufficient experience in plasma transfer.
The Ministry of Health has extracted plasma from six recovered cases, with three of the plasma donations having undergone the required screening before use in the treatment of active cases.
The first patient has already been injected with the plasma, with other patients soon to be in accordance with the Egyptian protocol for treating coronavirus cases.
If the trial proves successful, blood plasma will be approved part of the treatment protocol for the coronavirus. Patients who have recovered from the virus will be invited to donate their plasma to be used in the treatment of other active cases, the Ministry of Health statement said.
Egypt is one of 100 countries to have participated in a World Health Organization (WHO) trial study. The two-part study includes observation and analysis of patient data that has been put into a unified global database aimed at increasing knowledge on the virus. The second part of the study includes clinical trials for effective treatments for the coronavirus.
