powered by:
valneva canada inc.
covid survivors urged to give blood to 'help others survive'
shortage of plasma from people who have had recovered from covid-19 slows antibody study.
dec 23 2020
2 minute read
blood donations from covid-19 survivors slows research on using convalescent plasma to help patients avoid intubation and other serious complications. getty
far too few covid-19 survivors across north america are donating plasma and experts are worried shortages will slow efforts to treat people with the deadly virus.
donald arnold is a professor of medicine at mcmaster university and a co-principal investigator of the nationwide concor-1 clinical trial, which is studying the effectiveness of covid-19 convalescent plasma therapy on adult patients admitted to hospital with the virus. the plasma uses the antibodies in the blood of those who have recovered from the virus. he says that blood donations may increase the chances of survival for critically-ill patients.
supply is low
except the supply is running low in every province, except quebec, where blood product supplier héma-québec has its own supply. arnold says that the agency was more proactive in recruiting plasma donors right from the start, including directly calling people who had recovered from covid-19, which allowed them to stockpile plasma for the second wave.
“we’re just at the tipping point where we’re running out of plasma,” says arnold. “the demand is so great, and people who have recovered from covid-19 are not signing up to donate the way they used to during the first wave. the impact of a plasma shortage is that if we don’t have enough plasma, we’re going to end up turning people away from the clinical trial.”
advertisement
advertisement
covid fatigue and lack of awareness are contributing to lack of plasma donations, according to arnold. he says that canadians have an opportunity to make a difference right now — to help others survive covid-19 and to contribute to important research.
arnold suggests that while the first doses of the vaccine are already being administered in canada, it will take months – and possibly until the end of 2021 – for the vaccine to be available to everyone. convalescent plasma therapy may help new patients recover from the virus.
a convalescent plasma donation is similar to a blood donation – the key difference being that only specific donors can register – coronavirus survivors who have recovered from the virus and are symptom-free for at least 28 days, and those younger than 67 years old can register .
arnold says that convalescent plasma therapy studies are taking place elsewhere in the world and researchers from those centres are reporting varying degrees of success.
“we’re learning more and more from other countries and centres who have looked into this to some degree and the results are conflicting,” he says. “some reports say that it’s working and some reports say it’s not working to the extent they had hoped.”
advertisement
advertisement
arnold says that concor-1 is the largest plasma trial in the world — it covers all of canada, parts of the united states and it recently on-boarded brazil.
“our study will be the largest one, larger than any other studies that have been published already, the with the hard outcomes we’re looking at — does it help people survive and does it help prevent people from getting intubated in an intensive care unit — we’re going to be in a position to definitively answer those questions.”
coronavirus survivors can learn about the concor-1 trial at blood.ca and for those who meet the eligibility criteria can register to donate their blood here .
don’t miss the latest 世界杯决赛2022. subscribe to healthing’s daily newsletter.
share story
