The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) is currently exploring Convalescent Plasma treatment for COVID-19. The therapy involves the use of convalescent plasma (antibodies) collected from recovered COVID-19 patients so that the antibodies are transferred and boost their fight against the virus.
On March 29, 2020, the Houston Methodist Hospital took blood from a patient who had recovered from COVID-19 two weeks ago, and infused it into another critically ill patient. It was a first for the United States; the hospital’s blood bank now plans to collect blood from at least 250 recovered COVID-19 patients.
The USFDA says that “it is possible that convalescent plasma that contains antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) might be effective against the infection. Use of convalescent plasma has been studied in outbreaks of other respiratory infections, including the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza virus pandemic, 2003 SARS-CoV-1 epidemic, and the 2012 MERS-CoV epidemic.”
References
- USFDA-Investigational COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma – Emergency INDs.
- Indian Express-Recovered COVID-19 patients’ plasma: what is this experimental therapy?
