COVID patients cured with plasma/serum donations from those who have recovered from COVID (= antibodies)

No dubious vaccines needed, folks.

The old practice of 'convalescent serum therapy' is being revived. A version of this type of treatment was used a century ago during the Spanish flu of 1918...


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Houston Methodist performs the nation’s first plasma transfusion to treat COVID-19

March 31, 2020

Blood plasma transfusion was used to treat COVID-19 for the first time in the United States by physician-scientists at Houston Methodist Hospital this past weekend.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fast-tracked an old treatment that doctors hope will fight this new coronavirus successfully enough to flatten the curve sooner than expected to curb mounting fatalities.


After FDA clearance on March 28, 2020, Houston Methodist became the first academic medical center in the country to transfuse donated blood plasma from a fully recovered COVID-19 patient into a critically ill person—a treatment known as convalescent serum therapy. The historic acts occurred when researchers drew a quart of blood plasma from a COVID-19 survivor and transfused two people infected with the virus.

[link to www.tmc.edu]

"There haven’t been … the best controlled trials, but there’s a rich medical history of this," said James Musser M.D., Ph.D., pathology and genomic medicine chair at Houston Methodist Research Institute and Houston Methodist Hospital. "What hasn’t been done—and is important to do at this juncture as fast as we can—is to do a real trial and figure out if this is going to be beneficial at all. If so, is it beneficial a little, a lot or a whole lot?”

Last week, a team of Chinese scientists published a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association describing the use of convalescent plasma on five patients as potentially helpful for treating critically ill patients with COVID-19. Within three days of transfusion, body temperatures normalized in four of the five patients. Within 12 days, the number of viral particles disappeared, and within two weeks, three patients were taken off mechanical ventilation.

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Antibodies from COVID-19 survivors could be used to treat patients, protect those at risk

Infusions of antibody-laden blood have been used with reported success in prior outbreaks, including the SARS epidemic and the 1918 flu pandemic

[link to hub.jhu.edu]

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2 New Jersey COVID-19 patients recovering after experimental plasma treatment

April 22, 2020

[link to 6abc.com]

"...Renee Bannister, a 63-year-old school teacher, had been on a ventilator for three weeks with no sign of improvement. That's when her doctor decided to look into convalescent plasma therapy. The plasma comes from donors who recently recovered from COVID-19 and subsequently possessed protective antibodies. Fortunately, Renee's niece had recently recovered from a mild case of the virus and offered to be a donor.
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Bannister's doctor got FDA approval to take part in the Mayo Clinic trial using Leuzzi as a donor.

'The improvement started happening maybe 48 to 72 hours after the plasma transfusion,' said Dr. Polisiakiewicz.


Andy Fei, 61, an opera singer, was also fighting for his life on a ventilator.
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Doctors say both patients are now off ventilators and making a remarkable recovery.


"We are now giving patients plasma under the umbrella program of the Mayo Clinic," said Dr. Polisiakiewicz.

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The Red Cross has now set up a bank where doctors in the trial can draw the plasma from. Others who have recovered from the virus are being asked to donate blood hoping to treat more patients with this promising therapy.