Plasma from recovered patients may hold cure for others
Jeremy M. Lazarus | 4/23/2020, 6 p.m.
If you have recovered from COVID-19, the antibodies you developed could help save someone who is struggling to survive.
That’s the message from VCU Medical Center, which is seeking donations of plasma from coronavirus survivors so those antibodies can be injected into current patients with the virus.
VCU officials said this technique has been used in past disease outbreaks, including the 1918 flu pandemic, the pre-vaccine treatment of measles and more recently for Ebola, SARS and the H1N1 flu.
The hospital is preparing this week to administer convalescent plasma for the first time to a COVID- 19-positive patient. VCU officials noted that this is the only option as there is no treatment for the virus.
If plasma with antibodies “proves to be effective in patients with COVID- 19, it could be used to prevent the disease in exposed persons, shorten the severity of illness, reduce serious complications and even prevent death,” said Dr. Gonzalo Bearman, director of VCU Health’s Infection Prevention Program.
“We can’t provide this potentially life-saving treatment to those in need without our community’s help,” said Dr. Jeffrey Donowitz, an infectious disease specialist with VCU’s Children’s Hospital. “Donating plasma is a safe and selfless way to give back for the greater good of our community. You could save a life.”
VCU officials are asking people to sign up through the American Red Cross, which operates a confidential registry.
Details: Dr. Donowitz, (804) 828-1808 or Jeffrey.Donowitz@vcuhealth.org.
