Blood plasma
Golden-colored blood plasma can contain antibodies to fight a coronavirus infection. (Bloodworks Northwest via YouTube)

Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Bloodworks Northwest are putting out the call for people who have recovered from confirmed cases of COVID-19 to donate blood plasma as part of the quest for treatments.

More than 5,000 people in Washington state have been diagnosed with the disease caused by coronavirus over the past two and a half months, and those who have recovered have developed antibodies that are coded to fight off the virus.

For more than a century, health care providers have used transfusions of blood plasma from the survivors of infectious diseases to boost the ability of others to fight off those diseases, thanks to antibodies in the plasma. Those antibodies can also be used in the lab to create new types of medical treatments.

Scientists are hoping that the strategy will work for coronavirus as well. This week, researchers in China report that they’ve isolated several types of antibodies that seem to be “extremely effective” at blocking the virus.

The UW-Bloodworks team is among several research groups across the U.S. that are studying therapeutic applications for plasma from COVID-19 survivors.

“We are excited about moving forward in this time of a serious pandemic to develop a potential new therapy for this infection,” Terry Gernsheimer, a hematologist at UW Medicine, said today in a news release. She and fellow UW professor Anna Wald are co-lead investigators for the study, working with Dr. Rebecca Haley, medical director of Bloodworks Northwest’s apheresis center.

Apheresis is a process that draws blood, separates the plasma from the blood cells, and then returns the blood cells to the plasma donor. The body can rapidly replace the plasma and the proteins that are removed, which means donors can give plasma every two weeks rather than the minimum of three months that’s typical for whole-blood donations.

To participate, potential donors who have recovered from COVID-19 and are currently in good health can email contact information to covidplasma@uw.edu or leave a phone message at 206-520-4212.

Those selected to participate in the study will be asked to visit the UW Virology Research Clinic for a health assessment and confirmation of the COVID-19 infection. Depending on the results of preliminary blood tests, donors may be invited to make an appointment at Bloodworks Northwest for further screening to become convalescent plasma donors.

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