Searching for a COVID-19 cure through plasma research
COLUMBUS (WCMH) — This week, The Food and Drug Administration gave Nationwide Children’s Hospital an emergency approval to use convalescent plasma in the treatment of a COVID-19 patient.
The patient is Nick Butler, a senior at Dublin Jerome High School.
“We commend and thank the FDA for rapidly approving this emergency experimental treatment as part of the patient’s comprehensive care plan,” the hospital said in a statement.
The FDA says that while using plasma collected from COVID-19 survivors is promising, it has not yet been proven as a safe and effective treatment.
The theory is that blood from COVID-19 survivors has developed specific antibodies that might help other seriously ill patients fight off the virus.
OhioHealth is participating in a study and has identified patients to be considered for possible plasma treatments. Dr. Joseph Gastaldo says they are looking for potential donors but adds there is a rigorous screening process.
“They have to have the right blood type, and then their blood has to be collected and purified, screened for other things,” Dr. Gastaldo said.
Earlier this week, Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted announced that The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati received FDA approval for a plasma protocol for people who are most at risk for death of COVID-19.
“This allows healthcare workers to identify those individuals earlier and treat them earlier, which they believe will help save lives,” Husted said. “Now, they are taking this state wide to the hospitals across the state who are prepared to use this tool,” Husted said. “We have some amazing medical innovators in this state.”
Dr. Gastaldo cautions that developing conclusive results on the use of convalescent plasma will take some time.
“Just because the rooster goes cock-a-doodle-doo in the morning, that’s not the reason the sun comes up,” Dr. Gastaldo said. “When we give people these investigational medications, there are going to be people who get better and there are going to be people who don’t get better. The question you have to ask yourself is, ‘Are they getting better as a result of the plasma or the investigational medication or are they getting better on their own as their body is just recovering from the infection?’”