Recovered patients give hundreds of donations

BLOOD DONOR centres in Yorkshire have now collected almost 300 convalescent donations from people who have recovered after contracting Covid-19.

NHS Blood and Transplant is collecting convalescent plasma for a major coronavirus treatment trial and, if the trial is successful, widespread use in hospitals. The antibody rich plasma of people who have recovered can be transfused into people struggling to develop their own immune response.

As of the end of last week, Bradford donor centre had taken 61 donations, Leeds had taken 85 and Sheffield had taken 145.

Prof David Roberts, NHS Blood and Transplant’s Associate Medical Director for Blood Donation, said: “We need more donors and we want to hear from people who have had coronavirus. Convalescent plasma donation is safe and easy. If you get the call, please donate.”

Meanwhile, the University of Huddersfield has awarded funding to a research team that aims to provide a head start in developing drugs that could combat future pandemics.

Equipped with newly-acquired software, the project will carry out computational analysis of the structure of some of the proteins that are involved in SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

This greater understanding can open the way to drug development, said Dr Chris Cooper, a senior lecturer in the university’s Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences.

“If you understand the biology you can potentially have additional lines of attack for future pandemics,” he added.