Desert Regional among first in valley to receive plasma from recovered COVID-19 patient
Desert Regional Medical Center has become one of the first medical providers in the valley to receive COVID-19 convalescent plasma from LifeStream Blood Bank in Rancho Mirage. Officials said as of Friday the plasma had already been transfused to two patients who were infected with Coronavirus.
"It’s just like getting a blood transfusion so you get the plasma, you have to type it and make sure it’s compatible with the patient’s blood type," Desert Regional Medical Center Infectious Disease Specialist, Dr. Xolani Mdluli said.
Mdluli said the donations are part of an FDA-approved clinical trial with the Mayo Clinic.
"Let’s say somebody gets an infection-- in this case we’ll say it’s the coronavirus infection. Your immune system from your body will form antibodies which will help fight off the infection. What happens is that after the infection, the infection is gone and those antibodies remain in your blood and they stay in the liquid part of your blood called plasma, and wait to see if you ever have the virus again. Then those antibodies in the plasma will fight off the virus so the infection can be killed off quicker," Dr. Mdluli said.
The line of defense has become a critical tool in people who recover. Donors could then pass that on in hopes that it could help patients actively fighting off the virus.
"Those antibodies will speed up the process that’ll start killing the virus-- it’ll be faster. What it means is that then you’ll be able to recover from the infection sooner," Dr. Mdluli said.
Desert Regional Medical Center, Keck Medicine of University of Southern California, and Loma Linda University Medical Center all received plasma donations from LifeStream's plasma donor.
As of Friday, Dr. Mdluli was monitoring 2 patients who received the transfusions. He said they had shown improvements.
Although similar methods have been around for decades, Dr. Mdluli said the testing hasn't yet guaranteed positive results.
"These days nothing is guaranteed and that’s why it’s part of the trial, that’s why Desert Regional is part of the Mayo Clinic trial so that we can have all these trials done and then see, 'hey this thing works and this thing does not work,'" Dr. Mdluli said.
He also said if tests are successful, plasma donations could become more widely used in the interim as scientists work to develop a vaccine.
In order to be a donor, several factors are taken into account including weight, age, and medical conditions, and whether a person has fully recovered from the virus. He recommended talking to your doctor and contacting your local blood bank if you have recovered from COVID-19, and are wanting to donate blood.
