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COVID-19 Plasma Trial Will Exclude Bi and Gay Men

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A COVID-19 plasma trial, that will test for the antibodies effect as treatment, will exclude bi and gay men in the United Kingdom.

Photo above by Mikail Duran on Unsplash.

iTV reports: Gay and bisexual men have been told they cannot donate their plasma to a trial hoping to provide a treatment for Covid-19. Doctors at London’s Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital are aiming to use the plasma from recovered coronavirus patients to treat others with the disease. It is hoped that the possible treatment, known as convalescent plasma, will help Covid-19 patients whose bodies are not producing enough antibodies to fight the disease. But any man who has had sex with another man within the past three months is excluded from donating their plasma, in line with the current rules for donating blood.

Those guidelines explain that “men who have sex with men are at an increased risk of acquiring certain infections through sex”, which could be passed on during a transfusion.

Laura Russell, Director of Policy at Stonewall, said: “It’s really upsetting that gay and bi men who want to help in the fight against coronavirus are being prevented from doing so. The decision on whether people should be able to give blood or plasma should be based on individual risk assessments, not on people’s sexual orientation.”

Read the full article here.

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