Is convalescent plasma the next silver bullet for Covid-19

 Is Convalescent Plasma the next silver bullet for Covid?

Last week I heard on the news that convalescent plasma (CP) had been approved in record time by the FDA as a treatment for Covid-19. This makes a little more sense than rushing through hydroquinone as an unresearched treatment for Covid with it's potential for deadly side effects.

Let me explain what this is exactly:

The use of convalescent plasma (CP) collected from previously infected individuals to passively transfer antibodies in order to protect or treat humans dates back almost 100 years. CP has been used for the treatment of different kinds of viral infectious diseases, especially in times of outbreaks for example polio and pandemics. Other examples of CP use include rabies, hepatitis B, measles, influenza, Ebola and hemorrhagic fevers^.

CP for Covid treatment is thus made from the blood of people who have already had Covid. This requires Covid survivors to be willing to donate their blood.

If you think about it, the logistics and practicality of this would be no easy task assuming that convalescent plasma actually works. It has not been proven.

Why? First of all getting enough regular blood for all the people who need it is hard enough. There is always a shortage.

Although an estimated 38 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood at any given time, less than 10 percent do so annually. According to studies, the average donor is a college-educated white male, between the ages of 30 and 50, who is married and has an above-average income. This may not necessarily be the profile of the average Covid-19 survivor.

So now we would need to keep tabs on everyone who has had a Covid infection and convince them to donate their blood.

 The donor and the patient must also have compatible blood types. Once plasma is donated, it is screened for other infectious diseases, such as HIV. Then hopefully made available in a timely fashion for the sick person.

The good thing about CP is that over the decades it has been proven to be relatively safe so long as the recipient does not have an allergic reaction (which is basically the same risk as having a blood transfusion). Another good thing is that it will be available a whole lot faster than a vaccine !

At the end of the day this is not a ‘new’ therapy as touted and the availability is currently quite scarce. Once again forget the wonder treatments. The only thing you can really hang your hat on is making sure you don’t get Covid in the first place. Yep, same ole same ole! Wash your hands, use hand sanitizer, wear your mask, stay inside, social distance. Take your vitamin D, zinc, vitamin C and you can add echinacea or elderberry if you like.

Stay well. Please let me know if you have questions.