A. Convalescent plasma is a treatment that’s more than a century old and has been previously used as treatment for other infectious diseases, including the 1918 Pandemic Flu, MERS, and the 2003 outbreak of SARS. It involves taking antibody-rich blood plasma from recovered, healthy donors, and transfusing it into patients with severe disease as a way to boost the immune system.
DOES IT WORK? Although convalescent plasma shows promise based on several case reports, it hasn’t yet been shown to be safe and effective as a treatment for COVID-19. Randomized controlled studies are needed to establish safety and efficacy. Several studies are currently underway. The immediate goal of this research is to determine if convalescent plasma can improve the chance of recovery for people with the most severe disease. A second goal is to test whether convalescent plasma can help keep people who are moderately sick from getting sicker. The following site by the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project includes a list of all the clinical trials of convalescent plasma in the U.S.
In the meantime, the FDA has taken steps to make convalescent plasma available to patients with serious or immediately life-threatening COVID-19 disease through “compassionate use.” This allows patients to obtain treatment outside of a clinical trial when there is no other treatment available. See here for more information.
CAN RECOVERED COVID-19 INDIVIDUALS DONATE PLASMA? Yes, though there are strict eligibility criteria (NOTE: the screening criteria may differ by donation site):
****Prior diagnosis of COVID-19 documented by a lab test (some organizations are accepting positive antibody test results)
****Complete resolution of symptoms for at least 14 days before donation
****If available, neutralizing antibody titers of at least 1:160. A titer of 1:80 may be considered acceptable if an alternative matched unit is not available.
****Must meet other criteria for blood donation
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