Sheikh Khalifa Medical City started its first attempts to treat the "Covid-19" virus using blood plasma, after a 29-year-old Emirati recovered from the virus donated his blood plasma.
She explained that she had given the plasma to a person with the virus who had moderate to severe symptoms.
Plasma cells from a person who has recovered from the Corona virus are used in this treatment, as they contain immunoglobulins that were formed by the body after infection, and usually consist between 14 and 21 days after recovery.
The plasma treatment for "Covid-19" got prompt approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, and it is used in several health centers around the world.
Doctors note that 40-50% of patients who undergo this treatment have shown promising results.
A consultant and head of the Department of Hematology and Oncology at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Dr. Fatima Al Kaabi, stated that the city started treatment with plasma this week, as the young man donated blood plasma after recovering from Corona, and then the plasma was given intravenously to one of the patients infected with the virus.
She added: "We are still waiting for the results of the treatment, and we are optimistic that it will be promising."
Al-Kaabi added, "There are criteria for selecting a blood plasma recipient, including that he is at least 16 years old and not exceed 75 years old, and that his condition be moderate to severe, and that he does not suffer from any health condition that prevents him from accepting the plasma."
In turn, said a consultant and Acting Head of the Medical Laboratory Department, Dr. Heba Al-Humaidan, that "the patient receives the plasma in a perfusion intravenously, and when entering the plasma that contains the antibodies to his body, it attacks the virus and prevents further damage to vital organs."