CLEVELAND — Patients who have recovered from COVID-19 have something more and more hospitals want: their plasma.
Convalescent plasma therapy, which collects antibody rich plasma from donors who have recovered from COVID-19, is used for patients currently hospitalized with moderate to severe symptoms.
The Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Florida have expanded access protocol for the use of plasma therapy.
In Ohio, the American Red Cross is handling collections.
"Patients who have recovered from COVID-19 are believed to have antibodies that fight the infection. So when a unit is collected, similar to a blood donation, we transfuse this to a patient in the ICU, similar to a blood transfusion. And we believe that the antibodies in this plasma may help attack the virus of the patient who is sick and hopefully help them recover faster," explained Dr. Simon Mucha of the Cleveland Clinic.
To be a donor, the FDA has specified that any patient is a potential donor if they have a proven COVID-19 infection either through the swab testing, where we test for the viral RNA or an antibody test that shows they have been infected. To donate, the patient must have been symptom free for at least 14 days.
If you feel you qualify, please visit the American Red Cross here for more details.
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