Coronavirus In Minnesota: Mayo Clinic Testing Plasma Use As Possible COVID-19 Treatment
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Mayo Clinic has announced that it is researching the use of convalescent plasma as a possible therapy for COVID-19.
Health officials said that treatment involves giving patients who have the virus an infusion of plasma from those who have recovered from the disease.
The medical thinking is that the plasma from those who have recovered is rich in antibodies, which could be a great asset for those battling the coronavirus.
"Mayo Clinic has mobilized quickly to advance convalescent plasma in a scientific way," Dr. Michael J. Joyner, an anesthesiologist, said.
According to the Mayo Clinic:
"The treatment is based on the function of antibodies, proteins created by the immune system that combat invaders to the body in a variety of ways. Some are capable of neutralizing a virus, while others work by mobilizing a range of other immune cells that fight off disease. It's not yet known by which mechanism COVID-19 antibodies might work, but the thinking is that an infusion of convalescent plasma may boost a generalized response, known as passive immunity, until a patient develops a strong, targeted ability to fight the virus."
The Mayo said there's a long history of using serum, or plasma with clotting factors removed, for more than a century, even prior to the use of antibiotics to treat certain infectious diseases in the 1940s.