Plasma Therapy Aids Recovery in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients

At this point, all Americans are used to the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelming our healthcare news. Physicians and scientists around the world are working on a cure to the virus, but no treatments have been proven thus far. A recent report published in the American Journal of Pathology discusses plasma transfusions from recovered Coronavirus patients as being one of the most promising strategies for halting symptom progression.

 

Blood plasma is the liquid part of the that contains both red and white blood cells, as well as the colorless platelets the body deploys to clot and stem bleeding from wounds or cuts. The antibodies are floating in the liquid plasma. In plasma therapy, the antibodies that a patient made once they recovered are being transferred to a new person with the virus. 

 

In a study from Houston Methodist Hospital, of 25 patients given plasma transfusions, 19 improved, 11 left the hospital, and none at side effects. Doctors at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine are also working on a study trying to prove whether convalescent plasma will help protect COVID-19 patients from developing more severe symptoms. Lastly, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health are working on launching a pair of new studies looking at the use of plasma in health care workers and those who are sick at home with COVID-19. These studies aim to see if plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients can prevent patients from worsening and ultimately ending up on a ventilator or dying. The first trial will focus on using plasma on high-risk populations, including nursing home residents and healthcare workers. The second trial is focused on people who are sick at home. 

 

There are two main risks associated with plasma transfusions. There are concerns about the patient catching an infectious disease and that a patient’s immune system may react badly to the inject plasma of another person.  

 

To learn more information about these studies and blood plasma transfusions, read the full article at the following link: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-06-03/plasma-therapy-aids-recovery-in-critically-ill-covid-19-patients.

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