“Cleanse the blood” of inflammatory substances as a solution to persistent Covid symptoms

Cleaning the blood is one of the options already being considered to mitigate the effects produced by the Covid-19. This technique, which does not have clinical trials that have proven its effectiveness, is intended for those people who suffer symptoms after having been infected with coronavirus; that is, suffering what is already known as persistent covid.

A doctor, said last week that, at least, between 5% and 7% of the population will suffer; although the WHO reaches a figure of 10%. The most identified symptoms are tiredness, persistent cough, chest pain, muscle aches, changes in blood pressure or difficulty breathing, although there are another 200.

In Spain, it is estimated that more than 1 million people suffer after being infected. This has led health workers and patients to demand more attention on this problem, which today does not have an effective solution with clinical trials that demonstrate it.

In order to improve the lives of people who already suffer from that persistent covid, there are already several units around the world looking for a solution. Some clinics, especially in northern Europe, have opted for plasmapheresis, an extracorporeal purification technique that consists of extracting blood from the patient and separating it from the plasma. Once isolated from the blood cells, some “inflammatory” substances that may be harmful are removed.

In Spain, work is also currently under way on plasmapheresis. At the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital in Badalona, a team of experts is launching a clinical trial to test the efficacy and safety of this technique in patients suffering from persistent covid.

Lourdes Mateu, one of the doctors in charge of the Persistent VOCID Unit of the Catalan Hospital, assures that her priority “from the first moment has been to be on the side of the affected people and their families, because only from a global medical perspective can we understand the complexity of this syndrome and help patients”.

The study, as the Hospital advances, will have 50 affected and will begin next September. In addition, it will have a grant granted by the biotechnology company Gilead, which will allow to decipher the causes of this disease and try to design therapies that manage to alleviate persistent symptoms.