Status: 02/19/2021 10:06 a.m.
In addition to vaccines, antibody preparations should be a further step on the way out of the pandemic in the fight against corona. A study is currently underway at the Hannover Medical School.
With plasma donations, people who have had a corona infection can help other patients. Because the antibodies contained in the blood plasma of those who have recovered are supposed to support the immune system of infected people in fighting the virus. “The aim is to shorten the duration of the illness and prevent damage such as lung failure,” says Hagen Baum, head of the cytapheresis department and responsible for the production of blood preparations at the blood donation service of the German Red Cross (DRK) in Oldenburg.
MHH researcher: “Early use promising”
The effectiveness of the process is being examined in several studies – including at the Hannover Medical School (MHH). The head of the MHH Institute for Transfusion Medicine, Rainer Blasczyk, reports that the treatment with antibodies from plasma shows particularly promising results if it is done as early as possible. Approval is still missing in order to apply the procedure across the board. Compared to other drugs that are used for corona infections, side effects are extremely rare in therapy with so-called convalescent plasma, reports Blasczyk. The procedure is one of the few available therapeutic approaches in the fight against corona infection. There is currently no really effective remedy for the virus, doctors primarily treat the symptoms of the disease.
Many donors in Oldenburg
You can donate to the DRK blood donation service in Oldenburg, among others. In addition to general suitability, the prerequisites for this are, among other things, a sufficient antibody level in the blood, which is determined before the first plasma donation. Every week four to five former corona patients come to Oldenburg to donate. According to Baume, the willingness is high. One of them is Nicole Schmidt, with her the antibody concentration in the blood is higher than with other former corona infected people. She has already donated plasma 13 times. In return, the 47-year-old also accepts the 40-kilometer journey from her hometown near Friesoythe to Oldenburg. The only positive side effect of their infection is that they help other corona patients, she says.
Further information
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