Plasma donations needed from recovering COVID-19 patients

MILWAUKEE - As coronavirus cases continue to rise in Wisconsin, plasma donations are needed now more than ever. 

Those recovering from COVID-19 can help the fight against the virus in a special way. 

"There's this uptick in cases in Wisconsin, and with that usage has gone up of plasma products...of convalescent plasma," said Dan Waxman of Versiti Blood Center.

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Versiti Blood Center is looking for plasma from recovering COVID-19 patients.

"And that's almost a two-fold jump of how much we were distributing. And it was more than we actually collected, so for the first time in a number of months, we were distributing more than we were collecting," Waxman said.

Those who've recovered from the virus developed antibodies to fight it off. 

That's why convalescent plasma is needed now more than ever to be transfused to a patient currently fighting the virus. 

"These antibodies are circulating in their bloodstream and so when we create plasma and collect these 200ml products, each one of those products contain antibodies against the COVID virus," Waxman said.

The demand for plasma is up 50% from last month as cases continue to rise. 

Each donor is helping several hospitalized COVID-19 patients with just one donation. 

The process only takes 30 minutes, and donors can give plasma several times. 

"These antibodies can now from one donor go help fight the infection in a patient and not just one patient, several patients," he said.

To find out if you're eligible to donate plasma, CLICK HERE.