Just like top hospitals around the world,
the State-run Social Health Insurance System (EsSalud) has initiated the convalescent plasma clinical trial —approved by the
National Health Institute (INS)— for patients infected with COVID-19 in Peru.
The study will be carried out by researchers from Edgardo Rebagliati Martins Hospital —led by Dr. Ausberto Chunga— and by researchers from the Institute of Health Technology Assessment and Research (IETSI), who will evaluate the efficacy and safety of convalescent plasma for COVID-19 treatment.
This is the first and largest clinical trial entirely conducted by Rebagliati Hospital doctors and IETSI researchers.
It will be carried out thanks to the coordinated work with IETSI to get off the ground a project with high methodological standards, by complying with international and national regulations.
Dr. Patricia Pimentel, director of EsSalud's IETSI explained that the aim of this clinical trial —called "Plasma es Salud (Plasma is Health)— is to collect plasma from recovered individuals to be administered to the people who fight for their lives at Rebagliati Hospital.
"People, who have recovered from COVID-19, can donate their plasma —the liquid portion of blood— for research, which could help other patients who are still battling the disease," she said.
The IETSI director explained that the people who recover from the infection have antibodies against COVID-19 in their plasma, which is one of the ways in which their immune system responded to the virus when they were sick.
Registration
The large clinical trial will be conducted at the Rebagliati Hospital, one of the principal hospitals in the country, where recovered COVID-19 patients will be able to donate plasma upon registration.
(END) NDP/LIT/RMB/MVB
Published: 7/18/2020