To be willing to donate part of own blood is a true demonstration of love from one human being to another. And it adds merit in these times when the pandemic of the new coronavirus takes away so many lives, but at the same time inspires gestures of solidarity everywhere.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- A valuable contribution is generated from the Provincial Blood Bank for the production of the Transfer Factor, used within the treatment protocols for COVID-19.
The graduate in Microbiology Ernesto Utra Álvarez, in charge of quality control and the assurance of procedures there, explains to 26Digital that the drug, marketed under the name Herbertrans, strengthens the human immune system, especially for older adults and infants.
“It is a preventive action and we have seen that some positives for COVID-19 are already administering it in Mayabeque. Our mission is to deliver the raw material for its manufacture, which is obtained from the leukocyte concentrate of the donated blood units. Each person contributes 450 to 500 milliliters (ml) of blood and here we centrifuge it at low temperatures at about four degrees Celsius.
“Then it goes to a deplasmatization area, where the components of the whole blood are aseptically separated; from these, we obtain the supernatant or plasma, another intermediate layer of leukocytes and platelets (leukocyte concentrate), and a third layer of erythrocytes or red blood cells.”
And it is the intermediate layer which they send to the Biopharmaceutical Industry, specifically to the Cuban Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, for the production of the Transfer Factor. “Right now the process is intensifying at the request of specialists from this area of the said center. From April 1 to date we have shipped nearly 200 units (each bag contains 100 ml of donor leukocyte concentrate).”
Utra Álvarez explains that currently the largest amount of the vital liquid tissue that is collected in the city of Las Tunas is through mobile units, as the Blood Bank tries to bring the service closer to the extraction centers in the four health areas. Once the donation is obtained, they immediately return to the provincial headquarters for the agile processing of the blood, since the leuko-platelet concentrate only lasts 48 hours.
"From Havana, they guarantee the transportation two or three times a week of the product," he assures.
THE BEST GIFT
About eight thousand volunteer donors in the Balcony of Easter Cuba carry out the noble gesture. Dr. Ernesto Utra refers that they have well-identified 200 of them, with unusual blood groups, that is, those with a negative factor, to locate them in certain situations.
"Thanks to them, many lives can be saved, of children, pregnant women, patients who need blood urgently, because it has no substitute."
In the municipalities of Amancio, Jobabo and Puerto Padre, they have these units, also dedicated to the selection, collection, extraction, processing and storage of the fluid.
The province delivers about 18,000 donations each year and 1,500 per month; this allows the substance to be guaranteed in all local medical procedures.
During the year, about 5,000 liters of plasma are also sent to the Blood Products Plant to manufacture high-cost drugs on the international market, such as human albumin, tetanus gamma globulin, and anti-hepatitis B.
"We have highlighted in the plan of anti-D hyperimmune plasma, which is used in obtaining a vaccine to be applied to negative RH pregnant women and thus avoid the hemolytic disease of the newborn."
In any part of the world, if there is no stable supply of the vital liquid tissue, people die, especially those who require it periodically. “We live in times in which the feeling of humanity must prevail. We appeal to the mass organizations, to the population, about the need to donate blood. If you want to do it, you must be healthy, be between 18 and 60 years old, have a hemoglobin greater than 125 grams per liter (that is, 12.5 grams per deciliter), and a weight greater than 110 pounds."
These are, according to the microbiologist, the basic conditions necessary for someone to decide to extend their arm and give their fellow man the opportunity to once again enjoy the best of gifts: life.
SAFETY: AN ADDED VALUE
The Provincial Blood Bank has two laboratories, one for immunohematology-serology and the other belonging to the ultramicroanalytic system (SUMA), to rule out infectious elements in the composition of blood and certify its quality.
"All donations are screened virally, recommended by the World Health Organization. It includes HIV-AIDS, hepatitis B, C and serology to minimize the risks of transmission of some virus by infection and certify the good condition for the industry," highlights the expert.
This work is carried out by frequently circumventing the limitations and difficulties generated by the economic, commercial and financial siege of the United States against Cuba, which prevents the renewal and replacement of the equipment necessary to process the donated blood and which are a very expensive technology. This is what happens, says Utra Álvarez, with three machines designed to collect plasma, which could not be recovered because part of their components are made in the United States.
In other cases, such as plastic bags for collection, the Island is cost-expensive due to the acquisition of the material by third countries, some as far away as India.
The truth is that in a normal situation and circumstances such as today, in Las Tunas there is no lack of effort and the will of many, conscious, who know that each donation is a life saved or a pain relieved.
That is the best reward for those who give part of themselves and only wait for the satisfaction of knowing they are useful and doing good.
