Indiana University Health is asking COVID-19 survivors to help in their efforts to develop a treatment for the disease.
IU Health is asking patients who have recently recovered from COVID-19 to donate plasma to help critically-ill patients. These patients’ blood may contain antibodies that could fight or control the virus.
Dr. Nicolas Barros, the transplant infectious diseases specialist, says the use of the plasma is an investigational new treatment that could prove successful in managing the disease.
Plasma from those who have recovered from COVID-19 has not yet been approved for use by the FDA, but it can be used in one of three pathways by healthcare providers; clinical trials, expanded access and single patient emergency investigational new drug application.
The FDA says the effectiveness of plasma is promising, but it is important to study the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 plasma in clinical trials. The method has been used to treat diseases in the past, such as polio, measles and the 1918 flu epidemic.
Donors must be able to prove they had a positive COVID-19 diagnosis through a laboratory test and have been symptom-free for 28 days. IU Health is working with blood centers to identify and facilitate eligible donors.
