Recovered from COVID-19? FDA asks patients to donate plasma to help others fight virus

Patients who have recovered from COVID-19 are encouraged to donate their blood plasma to help treat others, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations.

The FDA said in a press release Thursday that more than 1,040 medical facilities and 950 physicians are participating in the protocol to expand access to convalescent plasma.

Convalescent plasma is “an antibody-rich product made from blood donated by people who have recovered from the disease caused by the virus,” according to the FDA. Treating patients with that plasma has been found to “lessen the severity or shorten the length of illness” with other respiratory viruses, the agency said.

The American Red Cross lists requirements for plasma donation: being at least 17 years old and weighing at least 110 pounds, having a positive COVID-19 test in the past but have since recovered, and being in general good health.

In order to donate, the Red Cross encourages fully recovered patients to fill out an eligibility form and wait for officials to reach out for further confirmation.

People have already benefited from convalescent plasma treatment, media outlets reported.

Michael Kevin Rathel, 52, of Florida, woke up from a coma after being treated with convalescent plasma from a donor, WPTV reported.

Rathel was in the ICU with COVID-19 and had to be put in an medically induced coma, Orlando Sentinel reported. He got the plasma transfusion on April 8 and improved enough to be woken up four days later, according to the outlet.

Treating patients with convalescent plasma was studied during the swine flu outbreak, the SARS outbreak and the 2012 MERS epidemic, the FDA said in a news release. Clinical trials are ongoing to “evaluate the safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma” in treating coronavirus.

This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Recovered from COVID-19? FDA asks patients to donate plasma to help others fight virus."