Coronavirus survivors donate blood plasma to help sick people fight the pandemic

Coronavirus survivors in the United States are volunteering to donate blood plasma in order to help sick patients fight the deadly disease. According to reports, convalescent plasma, the fluid in blood teeming with antibodies post-illness, has previously proven effective in treating Ebola and SARS patients and may prove helpful in treating the current pandemic victims.

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As per reports, the US Food and Drug Administration has given permission to physicians to test the strategy. The New York Blood Center will collect, test and distribute donations in the American city. Bruce Sachias, chief medical officer of the New York Blood Center, while talking to the press reportedly said that there is proof that the test will prove helpful in treating coronavirus patients. 

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Steven Spitalnik, who is leading trials at Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center, has said that the COVID-19 positive patients develop an immune response and produce high amounts of antibodies within seven to 14 days of getting infected, however, it is still not clear when does the peak production of antibodies happen. The recent development came as coronavirus infections in the United States crossed the 2,45,000 mark with over 6,000 deaths. 

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Coronavirus outbreak

COVID-19 has claimed more than 54,200 lives across the world and has infected over 10,30,000 people globally since it first broke out in December 2019. China was the most affected country until last month before Italy and Spain surpassed it to record the most number of deaths anywhere in the world due to COVID-19. The United States and France have also surpassed China in terms of the number of deaths recorded in these countries. Iran and the United Kingdom are also on the verge of overtaking China in terms of deaths recorded. The virus is believed to have originated from a seafood market in China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally.

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(Image Credit: AP)