ROAD TO RECOVERY Recovered patients wanted

GOLD COAST patients who have recovered from coronavirus are being urged to donate plasma in a bid to help the fight against COVID-19

Convalescent plasma is the liquid part of blood that contains antibodies. Medical experts say once someone has recovered from COVID-19, virus antibodies stay in their plasma.

Donations from someone who has recovered from COVID-19 could help boost the immunity of patients still battling the disease.

As of Friday, Australian Red Cross Lifeblood had received 607 donations from 401 donors, with another 317 donations booked.

Lifeblood medical director of pathology services Dr James Daly said donated plasma would be used to treat patients in clinical trials in hospitals in

Australia and overseas.

“(This is) both as a form of direct treatment and as a medication called COVID-19 Immunoglobulin, which may provide passive immunity against coronavirus infections,” he said.

Lifeblood’s call came as leading immunologist Professor Michael Good of Griffith University said Australian research into the use of convalescent plasma in clinical trials for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 should be supported.

“Convalescent plasma is not a new therapy and has been used and trialled in influenza, SARS-CoV-1 and ebola infection, as well as in many established diseases such as diphtheria and tetanus,” he said.

Prof Good heads the Laboratory of Vaccines for the Developing World, Institute for Glycomics at Griffith University and is a member of the National

COVID-19 Health and Research Advisory Committee and chairman of the working group of convalescent plasma therapy.

Prof Good said although the treatment was “experimental” at this stage, he was optimistic that when plasma was transfused into someone who had the disease, it could potentially cure them – but only if given early in the disease.

“It’s equivalent to a vaccine of some sorts, and could potentially be useful for protecting people who may come in contact with cases, including frontline health workers who deal with patients daily,” he said.

Prof Good said only a few small studies had been published in China and Korea on the use of convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19. He said these were not “controlled trials’’ so their efficacy could not be validated.