New York Blood Center calls for donations from recovered COVID-19 patients for new treatment

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
Print

 NEW YORK – New York Blood Center is calling for recovered COVID-19 patients to donate blood plasma to help treat other patients with advanced illness.

In the treatment, known as convalescent plasma, the patient is transfused with the donor’s plasma with the goal of using the donor’s antibodies to help clear the virus more rapidly and help decrease the need for ICU beds and ventilators.

The blood center was the first to collect blood plasma donations for this purpose after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the treatment on March 24.

“Our region was hit early by this pandemic and has sadly suffered from the highest number of infections in the nation. That means we now have the largest pool of recovered patients who can become donors and help those who are severely ill,” said Dr. Christopher Hillyer, president and CEO, of New York Blood Center.

Donors must have tested positive for COVID-19 and be symptom-free for 14 days. One donation can be used to treat two to three patients struggling with severe cases of COVID-19. Interested donors can sign up at www.nybc.org/cpdonor.




Popular Stories