AUSTIN, Texas — Plasma donations are helping hospitalized coronavirus patients, and We Are Blood along with the Dell Medical School are asking for recovered COVID-19 patients to donate as Texas sees a spike in cases.
According to a press release from the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, the increase in cases is prompting a serious demand for plasma from people who have recovered for the virus. Now, We are Blood and Dell Med are "making an urgent public request for plasma donations to fight the global pandemic."
Nick Canedo, the vice president of community engagement at We Are Blood, previously told KVUE that the plasma is being transfused into "into donors like a regular blood transfusion and the hope is that their plasma donation possessing the antibodies will be used by the patient's body to fight off COVID-19." It's known as “convalescent plasma.”
It's one of the few potentially-life-saving treatments available to respond to coronavirus, said Kristin Mondy, chief of infectious diseases at Dell Med.
UT's statement said Mondy leads the school in part of the nationwide study of “convalescent plasma.”
Wondering how you can help other patients diagnosed with coronavirus?
If you have fully recovered from a lab-confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, you may qualify to donate plasma. If you didn't have a lab-confirmed diagnosis, a positive result from an FDA-approved antibody test may be considered, the school said. If you meet this criteria and have experienced no symptoms for at least 14 days, you should fill out the form online in order to be considered as a plasma donor.
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