After the White House Coronavirus Task Force pressed for the emergency-use authorization of convalescent plasma as a treatment for hospitalized patients, blood banks are seeking "superdonors," The Wall Street Journal reported.
The "high-titer" donors, those with high antibody levels, are in particular demand, especially if they sustain those levels months after recovering from the COVID-19 infection, per the report.
The donations are sought regularly for those categorized as high-titer donors.
Data show that transfusions of that type of plasma have proven to be effective in reducing mortality in hospitalized patients.
"We expect hospitals will want high-titer plasma," Vitalant Senior Vice President Cliff Numark told the Journal. "We don't know if we will have enough."
The demand will only grow if a new wave of COVID-19 infections wash over the United States during the upcoming cold and flu season, experts told the Journal.
"We want to take a person who has recovered from COVID and make them a superdonor with very high antibody levels," Dr. Philip J. Norris, Vitalant Research Institute's director of laboratory science, told the Journal.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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