FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization for Convalescent Plasma as a Potential Promising COVID–19 Treatment.
Another Achievement in the Trump administration’s Fight Against the ChinaVirus Pandemic.
The move, touted by President Donald Trump as a “powerful therapy,” will make it easier for hospitalized patients fighting a severe case of COVID-19 to receive the antibody-rich blood from recovered donors.The use of convalescent plasma collected from previously infected individuals to passively-transfer antibodies in order to protect or treat humans dates back almost 100 years, with some evidence for benefit against rabies, hepatitis B, polio, measles, influenza, Ebola and other pathogens. 1,2 Results from small case series during the prior MERS and SARS ChinaVirus outbreaks documented safety and faster viral clearance following convalescent plasma administration, particularly when given early in the disease course.
