Convalescent Plasma of Former COVID-19 Patients Used as Treatment

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology on Wednesday, May 6, announced that the Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital (RSPAD Gatot Soebroto) is following the steps of countries such as China, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom in using convalescent plasma obtained from recovered patients to treat sick COVID-19 patients. 

Citing Antaranews, the Eijkman Institute’s Head Amin Soebandrio on Wednesday said the latest information he obtained suggests there are three coronavirus patients who have been given the plasma transfusion at Gatot Soebroto. 

He also revealed that the donors of the plasma were donated by the former COVID-19 patients from Indonesia’s first recorded cases. 

“The convalescent plasma was obtained from people in Indonesia’s first cases,” said Soebandrio. 

Moreover, Amin Soebandrio elaborates that the plasma from recovered patients contains antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, which is the virus that ends up becoming COVID-19 inside people’s systems. However, he asserts that plasma treatments such as these are not suited for mass-treatments for severely sick patients that meet the stringent requirements to undergo the procedure. 

“One plasma cannot be used for every single patient,” he said. 

The Indonesian Clinical Training and Education Center (ICTEC), in Tuesday’s online discussion, said that convalescent plasma transfusion has shown promising results based on the data even though the tests that have been conducted are yet to reach mass-levels. The promising yet clear limitations of this therapy were corroborated by hematology and oncology specialist Lugyanti Sukrismananggota, who is also a member of the national convalescent plasma researchers. 

ANTARA