Saudi Ministry of Health: A New Way to Treat Infected People by Blood Plasma

The Director of the Oncology Center at King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam, Dr. Hani Al-Hashemi, revealed the results of a study and an evaluation of the effectiveness of the treatment of coronavirus patients with recovered blood plasma, and the number of beneficiaries of the procedure so far.

Al-Hashemi said during the press conference on the developments of Coronavirus that the study is still preliminary results. However, there are no indications that blood plasma therapy is dangerous for the injured, adding that the final evaluation needs a period, and everyone will be informed of it upon its completion. He said that the number of hospitals participating in the research amounted to 18 hospitals, and there is still a desire from several hospitals to participate, indicating that the number of those who benefited from plasma treatment reached 80 people, and the number of donors reached 400 donors and they are increasing.

He explained that the research was approved by the General Research Department of the Ministry of Health and the Food and Drug Authority, which consists of two parts; The first has to do with plasma and extract it from the recovered, and the second has to do with giving the plasma to the right person.

He pointed out that the research team communicates with the donor through several methods and then begins making the necessary arrangements to attract this donor, and there are strict procedures to ensure the safety of the donor and the safety of the person who needs the plasma.

And that giving the plasma to the affected person depends on specific requirements, and is the patient suitable to be treated in this way or not, and if the appropriate patient is chosen for the conditions, analyzes are taken from him periodically to assess the effectiveness of the treatment.