Mexico calls for COVID-19 plasma donors

The Mexican Institute for Social Security (IMSS) asked people who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate plasma at the blood banks in Mexico City , Monterrey , and Guadalajara to help transfer antibodies to those fighting the new disease.

Those eligible to donate plasma have recovered from the SARS-CoV-2 virus ; plasma donation is an experimental treatment that can help patients with serious cases of the disease.

To date, the infection that causes COVID-19 does not have a specific treatment .

“Due to transfusion security , family, replacement, or directed donations are avoided to obtain the plasma, this means that it’s not a kind of transfusion in which a person donates blood or components that can be reserved to transfuse to a specific patient in a later date,” said the IMSS .

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In order to participate, the donation must be voluntary , free from coercion , and unpaid .

Moreover, people must comply with the following requirements : In addition to having recovered from the disease within 14 days after the symptoms have subsided, to be between 18 and 65 years old, a PCR test for COVID-19 that tests negative within 14 days after the symptoms have subsided; women with no antecedents of pregnancies that comply with the criteria of safe blood donations established by NOM 253 .

So far, 113 patients who recovered from COVID-19 have gone to the IMSS Blood Banks to donate plasma.

Since COVID-19 does not have a specific treatment, this protocol is performed in addition to the medical care provided at hospitalization areas and intensive care units at the IMSS medical facilities.

On April 22 , the IMSS became the first institution in the country certified by the Federal Commission for the Protection Against Health Risks (COFEPRIS) to use convalescent plasma under the protocol “Efficiency and Security of Plasma from Convalescent COVID-19 Patients with Serious Acute Respiratory Syndrome.”

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You can donate here:

1. Cental Blood Bank La Raza. Jacarandas Ave, La Raza, 02990. Mexico City
2. Central Blood Bank Siglo XXI. 330 Cuauhtémoc Ave., Doctores. 06720. Mexico City
3. West Central Blood Bank. 1000 Belisario Domínguez Ave., Independencia, 44340. Guadalajara, Jalisco.
4. Blood Bank UMAE Cardiology Hospital. Abraham Lincoln Ave., Valle Verde,  64730, Monterrey, Nuevo León.

You can also send an e-mail to ana.lopezm@imss.gob.mx or call the IMSS call center 800 2222 668 where those interested in donating can receive guidance about nearby places to do it.

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