Men urged to donate blood plasma due to West Country donor shortage

Men who have had coronavirus symptoms are being urged to donate blood plasma due to shortage of male donors in the South West.

More than 10,000 people across the West Country have volunteered to donate blood plasma after recovering from COVID-19 but only 36% of the volunteers are male.

• People in West Country told to only book coronavirus test if showing symptoms

According to research, men are far more likely to donate a unit of plasma with a high level of antibodies and a man booked in to donate for the first time is three times more likely to give a high antibody unit of plasma than a woman booked in to donate for the first time.

Men also have generally larger veins and a larger volume of blood in their circulation, meaning they are more likely to meet the donation requirements on the day.

To date, around 17,000 donations have been taken nationally, including 1134 donations across the Bristol, Gloucester, Plymouth and Poole donor centres.

Plasma from people who have recovered can be transfused into people who are still unwell and struggling to develop their own immune response.

It contains neutralising antibodies which could stop the virus spreading. 

The NHS says donation takes about 45 minutes and your body usually replaces the plasma you’ve donated in 24 to 48 hours.

Read more:

• Cancer patient urging people to see a GP following fall in cancer referrals

• Family from Devon travel 90-mile round trip for coronavirus test only to be turned away

• Bristol University to make face visors mandatory for students