In the past couple of months, India saw a massive surge in the amount of COVID-19 cases, several mutations and variants were found, and coupled with the lack of hospital beds and oxygen supply, the future looks bleak for the common citizens. And in these abysmal times, a conclusive and definitive solution is the donation of plasma. All of us on social media must have come across various lookouts for plasma, why is plasma so important to treat and cure coronavirus? Let us explore why.
Let us begin by understanding what exactly ‘plasma therapy’ is. Convalescent plasma therapy is a popular procedure to fight the COVID-19 infection. This is an experimental treatment, wherein, the yellow liquid part in our blood that is known as plasma is separated and extracted from a person who has fully recovered from coronavirus previously and is now injected into a patient that is currently suffering from the virus. This plasma from recovered people helps transfer antibodies to the patient’s body to fight the virus. Doctors have argued that injecting plasma into a patient currently suffering from COVID-19 helps the patient to recover much faster.
So are you wondering when can you start to donate your plasma if you have fully recovered from COVID-19? Well, a person who has fully recovered from COVID-19 is eligible to donate plasma only after two weeks after that person has fully recovered from the COVID-19 virus. This is done to ensure that the virus is completely out of the person’s system as donating plasma and to make sure that person’s body has generated an adequate amount of antibodies that are required to kill the virus. Hence, you should have a prior diagnosis of your COVID-19 done and documented by a laboratory test and you should meet other qualifications of being a donor, like blood type, and so on.
Donating plasma can save lives and help the country to fight the virus effectively. The antibodies present in the plasma can help people who are suffering from COVID-19 currently, to fight the infection faster and major health complications can be prevented. Therefore, if you have recovered from COVID-19 recently, wait for 14 days and when your turn comes, please donate your plasma. Most of the major blood banks accept donations of plasma, you can also find various plasma donation campaigns and camps conducted by various independent organizations, try to get in touch with them and donate your plasma. Lastly, keep check of daily updates if anyone requires urgent plasma, please come forward. Remember, donating plasma is equivalent to saving lives! Stay safe, donate, and mask on, my fellow readers!
Rajnandini Barman
Team Zuperly
