Under new emergency protocols approved Tuesday, FDA will allow doctors across the US to begin using plasma donated by coronavirus survivors to treat patients who are critically ill with the virus.
The method — essentially harvesting virus-fighting antibodies from the blood of previously infected patients — was associated with milder symptoms and shorter hospital stays for some patients during the 2002 SARS outbreak. And initial reports from China suggest convalescent plasma might also be effective in dulling the effects of COVID-19., doctors can request permission to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients on a case-by-case basis.
The FDA cautioned that plasma has not been proven effective for COVID-19 and that researchers wishing to test it more broadly should apply for permission to begin a trial.“Although promising, convalescent plasma has not been shown to be effective in every disease studied,” the FDA announcement said. “It is therefore important to determine through clinical trials, before routinely administering convalescent plasma to patients with COVID-19, that it is safe and effective to do so.
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