Hospitals are seeking plasma from people with COVID to help patients who are currently fighting the disease.news

Cadillac — Believe it or not, blood is a treatment that has been found to be of great help to the recovery process in people who develop COVID-19.

You are reading that right: Doctors inject blood (more precisely, “convalescent plasma”) into people hospitalized with COVID-19 to help them get better and faster .. But it’s not just someone’s blood — it must come from people who have already been infected with the coronavirus and have developed an immune response to fight it.

Dr. James Welan, Deputy Director of Medicine at Manson Healthcare Cadillac Hospital, said people already infected with COVID-19 carry the “key” to neutralize the coronavirus in their blood. ..

“Antibodies are like a key between a virus and white blood cells,” Welan said. “It usually takes a few days for someone to develop their antibody, but we can start the process right away.”

Unlike red blood cells, which come in many varieties and are not used in the same way by everyone, Whelan said that because white blood cells are universal, this treatment is very widely used.

“This has reduced the number of people who get sick in hospitals and the speed at which they leave the hospital,” Welan said.

Brig Cutter, donor service manager at the Versiti Blood Center in Michigan, said convalescent plasma is being distributed twice as fast as it can be collected in hospitals and is collected daily to help those who are currently fighting the virus. Said it was necessary.

“We are not meeting the needs of hospitals across the state and are having a hard time catching up with inquiries,” Cutter said.

As of last Thursday, 326 donors in Michigan agreed to give convalescent plasma after being infected with the coronavirus. This is equivalent to 885 donations.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Cutter said there was a concern that blood donations would generally decrease as people went to donate blood and were probably more cautious about getting infected.

The drop-off occurred to some extent, but in the meantime it was discovered that the hospital stopped waiting surgery and driving a car, which reduced blood demand (causing many traumas requiring blood transfusions). )) It’s late again.

Too much blood drawn and some wasted is as bad as running out of blood, so the cutter needs to schedule a blood drive to rebalance the supply and demand of the system. I said there is.

However, as hospitals began elective surgery again and people started more driving, the need for blood products gradually increased to previous levels.

Fortunately, Cutter said the tendency for fewer people to turn out to give blood is short-lived.

“The donor has been strengthened,” Cutter said. “The blood draw drive has been strong (since demand has begun to recover again).”

Thanks to the enhanced supply of red blood cell donations, Cutter said he has recently concentrated most of his staff resources on the acquisition of highly demanded convalescent plasma as COVID-19 hospitalizations surge across the state. ..

“The hospital is really looking for it now,” Cutter said. “They are seeing really positive results with it.”

Cutter said that by devoting much of his staff primarily to convalescent plasma collection, he could reach out to them and catch up with donors who want to move further.

“We are doing our best to catch up,” Cutter said. “Donors receive timely follow-up on their phone.”

To provide convalescent plasma, there are some requirements that a person must meet, such as a positive COVID-19 test and no symptoms for at least 14 days.

Cutter also said he would ask all plasma donors to answer a series of questions related to some additional eligibility criteria. Versiti also said he was asking for advance reservations as he would need to bring the equipment and supplies needed to collect the plasma.

For more information https://www.versiti.org/home/convalescent-plasma-donations..

Many blood donations are made in the Cadillac area. Meanwhile, Versiti plans to book plasma donors. Check the info box for more information on these upcoming events.