Medical director says convalescent plasma treatments are helping COVID-19 patients turn the corner

Florida hit an all-time high for coronavirus deaths in a day on Thursday and there are limited ways to treat those COVID-19 patients.

One way that is proving hopeful is by giving them convalescent plasma.

The medical director of the COVID response team says the results are promising.

Right now they are still studying plasma in sick patients, but from what they’ve seen it’s helping people who are very ill turn the corner.

Dr. David Lindner says many of his patients went from being in the ICU to now going home.

He says he saw one young mother make a miraculous recovery.

“Basically getting plasma and getting Remdesivir and watching her go from almost being intubated on a ventilator to going home in three days. There are times where people respond dramatically,” Dr. Linder said.

Here’s how it works:

People who have recovered from COVID-19 have antibodies. These are proteins in your body that fight off infections.

The blood from those people who have recovered is convalescent plasma and that’s the liquid portion of the blood.

That plasma can then be given to other people with severe COVID-19 symptoms to boost their ability to fight off the virus.

But, there are several boxes that need to be checked in order for someone to donate.

– You have to have a positive swab or antibody test on record
– You must be fully recovered and symptom-free for at least 14 days.

For more information on this study and where you can donate click here.