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By LAURA FOX FOR MAILONLINE Published: 11:39 EDT, 29 January 2021 | Updated: 11:44 EDT, 29 January 2021 Coronation Street's Charlie De Melo has revealed he's donated blood plasma
for a COVID-19 trial after unknowingly contracting the virus last year. The actor, 29, who plays Imran Habeeb on the soap, said he was 'extremely fortunate' that he didn't
even know he had the virus as he didn't display any symptoms. It comes after the NHS launched a new initiative asking patients with COVID-19 antibodies to donate their blood plasma so
scientists can research and discover new treatments. Charlie shared an Instagram post proudly holding his bag of plasma after visiting a blood clinic to undergo the transfusion. The star
urged anyone eligible to donate, admitting he had no idea he'd contracted the virus until months later when he flippantly agreed to an antibodies test, which usually detect whether a
patient has had COVID-19 within the past three months. He wrote: 'Proudly holding a bag of my own Blood Wee (or as everyone insisted on calling it, "Plasma") Despite my best
(continuing) efforts, I had COVID-19 at some point last year. No idea when, where or how. I am ~extremely~ fortunate to not even have noticed the dreadful bastard. '@givebloodnhs are
looking for people who've ~had~ COVID-19 to donate their Plasma to help treat those currently suffering with it. 'If you've had a positive COVID or Antibody Test* and you are
able to donate blood, please do. You could well be saving somebody's life. It's easy, painless and the staff at Norfolk House in Manchester, where I donate, are absolute gems and
will take very good care of you. ( Its a safe assumption that theyre all just as wonderful up and down the country). 'Plus they give you Kit Kats and Squash and let's be honest,
you could do with a day out, eh? Just Google. NHS COVID BLOOD DONATION 'That was how I found out I'd had it, incidentally. Waiting in the pharmacy for something else entirely and
out of curiosity took an antibody test. 'Had I not been wearing a mask the entire time I was ''ill" I could've made someone, if not many' seriously ill. So do
take all the precautions asked of you and more (if possible) even if you feel fine. It's not for you, it's for everyone else.' Charlie reminded his fans to do their own
research into blood plasma donation, after first hearing through word of mouth the NHS were specifically looking for men to donate. In recent months scientists have been looking using
convalescent plasma therapy as a method of treatment for COVID-19. The treatment is when the liquid portion of blood is taken from a recovered coronavirus patient It is transferred into a
sick patient in hopes they will develop the antibodies needed to fight off the infection The treatment was first used during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, a situation not far removed
from the coronavirus pandemic. People can donate plasma more than once, but have to wait several weeks after donating. Coronation Street was forced to pause filming for two weeks earlier
this month after it was revealed a crewmember on neighbour soap Emmerdale had tested positive for COVID-19. Several scenes for Coronation Street will be rewritten to accommodate the break,
in a bid to keep the storylines creative going forward. An ITV spokersperson told MailOnline: 'Coronation Street will pause filming from next Monday, 25 January for two weeks to
undertake some rewriting of stories and scripts as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic. 'We will also be taking the opportunity to review all health and safety requirements to
ensure we continue to provide a safe working environment for the cast, crew and production team. 'This pause in filming won't affect our ability to deliver six episodes of
Coronation Street each week.' Coronation Street continues tonight at 7:30pm and 8:30pm on ITV. WHAT IS CONVALESCENT PLASMA AND WHERE HAS IT BEEN USED? Convalescent plasma has been used
to treat infections for at least a century, dating back to the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. It was also trialed during the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza virus pandemic, 2003 SARS epidemic, and
the 2012 MERS epidemic. Convalescent plasma was used as a last resort to improve the survival rate of patients with SARS whose condition continued to deteriorate. It has been proven
'effective and life-saving' against other infections, such as rabies and diphtheria, said Dr Mike Ryan, of the World Health Organization. 'It is a very important area to
pursue,' Dr Ryan said. Although promising, convalescent plasma has not been shown to be effective in every disease studied, the FDA say. Is it already being used for COVID-19 patients?
Before it can be routinely given to patients with COVID-19, it is important to determine whether it is safe and effective through clinical trials. The FDA said it was 'facilitating
access' for the treatment to be used on patients with serious or immediately life-threatening COVID-19 infections'. It came after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that plasma
would be tested there to treat the sickest of the state's coronavirus patients. COVID-19 patients in Beijing, Wuhan and Shanghai are being treated with this method, authorities
report. Lu Hongzhou, professor and co-director of the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre, said in February the hospital had set up a special clinic to administer plasma therapy and was
selecting patients who were willing to donate. 'We are positive that this method can be very effective in our patients,' he said. Meanwhile, the head of a Wuhan hospital said
plasma infusions from recovered patients had shown some encouraging preliminary results. The MHRA has approved the use of the therapy in the UK, but it has not been revealed which hospitals
have already tried it. How does it work? Blood banks take plasma donations much like they take donations of whole blood; regular plasma is used in hospitals and emergency rooms every day.
If someone's donating only plasma, their blood is drawn through a tube, the plasma is separated and the rest infused back into the donor's body. Then that plasma is tested and
purified to be sure it doesn't harbor any blood-borne viruses and is safe to use. For COVID-19 research, people who have recovered from the coronavirus would be donating. Scientists
would measure how many antibodies are in a unit of donated plasma - tests just now being developed that aren't available to the general public - as they figure out what's a good
dose, and how often a survivor could donate. There is also the possibility that asymptomatic patients - those who never showed symptoms or became unwell - would be able to donate. But these
'silent carriers' would need to be found via testing first. Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda is working on a drug that contains recovered patients antibodies in a pill form,
Stat News reported. Could it work as a vaccine? While scientists race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, blood plasma therapy could provide temporary protection for the most vulnerable in a
similar fashion. A vaccine trains people's immune systems to make their own antibodies against a target germ. The plasma infusion approach would give people a temporary shot of someone
else's antibodies that are short-lived and require repeated doses. If US regulator the FDA agrees, a second study would give antibody-rich plasma infusions to certain people at high
risk from repeated exposures to COVID-19, such as hospital workers or first responders, said Dr Liise-anne Pirofski of New York's Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of
Medicine. That also might include nursing homes when a resident becomes ill, in hopes of giving the other people in the home some protection, she said.
