COVID-19 convalescent plasma has been one of the few tools doctors can use to fight coronavirus infections, and the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center has been collecting and providing that plasma since April.
In fact, the community blood center is the only organization in San Antonio taking convalescent plasma donations and distributing them to local and area hospitals. The concept was that antibodies produced by the recovered patients’ immune systems could help sick patients’ immune systems fight a coronavirus infection.
The collections and transfusions originally were part of a national clinical trial conducted by the Mayo Clinic, looking into the effectiveness of using plasma donated by those who had recovered as a treatment for those still battling a COVID-19 infection.
In July, the Food and Drug Administration changed the status of convalescent plasma therapy from a clinical trial to an “emergency use authorization.” The change reduces the amount of paperwork a hospital must prepare before a patient with COVID-19 can receive a transfusion of convalescent plasma.
The FDA noted in its announcement that convalescent plasma “may be effective in treating COVID-19 and that the known and potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks of the product.”
Preliminary results from the Mayo Clinic study and one conducted at Methodist Hospital System in Houston showed increased survival rates among patients who received transfusions early in their hospitalizations, and among those who received plasma with high levels of COVID-19-fighting antibodies.
Earlier results also showed the therapy was safe for virtually all patients. Research is still underway into the overall effectiveness of convalescent plasma, which has been used as a therapy for infections for almost 100 years.
“Many of the local physicians and hospitals we work with are telling us that convalescent plasma has shown promise in patients they are treating,” said Dr. Rachel Beddard, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of BioBridge Global.
“They have shared cases of patients who were not expected to survive, who received convalescent plasma and later recovered. These physicians have asked us to make urgent appeals for more donations of convalescent plasma by people who have recovered from COVID-19.”
Carabin Shaw PC and Wyatt Law Firm PLLC are sponsoring a program to give convalescent plasma donors with STBTC a $50 Visa gift card for donating. The cards are being supplied by the firms and are not funded by the South Texas Blood & Tissue
Center, a subsidiary of BioBridge Global. The cards will be distributed while supplies last.
Anyone interested in donating convalescent plasma can contact the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center at COVID19@SouthTexasBlood.org or visit SouthTexasBlood.org.
STBTC is taking donations by appointment only at the Donor Pavilion in San Antonio and its donor room in Victoria. All potential convalescent plasma donors must have their plasma tested for the presence of antibodies to COVID-19 before they donate.
Plasma donors also must meet all other requirements to give blood.
