In South Korea, two elderly patients infected by the novel Corona Virus have made a full recovery following a blood plasma treatment. Doctors at Severance Hospital, Seoul, on Tuesday claimed that two patients have fully recovered, with one of them already discharged from the hospital.
The research team led by Professor Choi Jun-Yong of Severance Hospital’s Infectious Disease Division said the transfusing of plasma to two serious COVID-19 patients improved their symptoms. The process involved plasma transfusion from two patients who had already recovered from COVID-19 and thus had antibodies in their blood plasma.
One of the patients is a senior male aged 71 who received the plasma 10 days after being admitted to the hospital for severe respiratory issues due to COVID infection. The plasma was administered in two doses at 12 hours interval. The other is a senior female aged 67 who received the treatment in two doses at 14 hours interval. Both of them received plasma from recovered patients who are in their 20s.
Despite plasma therapy’s side effects and insufficient scientific evidence for its efficacy, it might be “an additional option to treat patients without causing any severe adverse effects,” Professor Choi added. He also emphasized that the authorities should build a system to efficiently secure and manage donated plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients.
