Memorial Healthcare System announced it has been registered to participate in Mayo Clinic’s Convalescent Plasma Expanded Access Program to test the use of donated blood as a treatment for people with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The Broward County-based hospital system is urging community members who fully recovered from COVID-19 to donate potentially lifesaving plasma. Memorial Healthcare System has partnered with OneBlood for the plasma collection.
“We celebrate COVID-19 patients in our community who are recovering from this virus everyday and now we call upon them to help others who are suffering with the virus,” said Candi Sareli, MD head of research for Memorial Healthcare System. “The donation process is simple, but it is only for donors who meet the required screening criteria.”
According to researchers at the Mayo Clinic, people who’ve recovered from COVID-19 have antibodies to the disease in their blood, referred to as convalescent plasma. Researchers hope convalescent plasma can be given to people with severe COVID-19 to boost their ability to fight the virus. The immediate goal of this research is to determine if convalescent plasma can improve the chance of recovery for people with the most severe symptoms. A second goal is to test whether convalescent plasma can help keep people who are moderately sick from getting sicker.
Donors must meet all of the required screening criteria for blood donation and the additional FDA criteria, which include:
● Prior diagnosis of COVID-19 documented by an FDA approved laboratory test
● Complete resolution of symptoms at least 14 days prior to donation and a documented negative COVID-19 FDA approved test OR
● Complete resolution of symptoms at least 28 days prior to donation
If a potential donor meets the identified criteria, they should fill out the form online at https://www.oneblood.org/CCP/CCP-form-donor.stml.
To get the most up-to-date information on Memorial Healthcare System and the latest developments on COVID-19, visit https://www.mhs.net/patients-visitors/coronavirus-disease.
