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Israel to Treat Coronavirus Victims with Antibodies from Recovered Patients
(Jerusalem Post) Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman - Patients who recovered from coronavirus will be asked to donate blood plasma to treat Israelis who are severely ill with Covid-19, said Magen David Adom deputy director-general of blood services Prof. Eilat Shinar. This assumes that those who have recovered from the disease have developed special antibodies which could help sick patients. This is called passive immunization, as opposed to an active vaccine. Plasma with antibodies was used to treat patients with SARS during the outbreak in 2002. Last week, the FDA approved a similar protocol in the U.S. Earlier this week, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported about plasma being used to treat five Covid-19 patients in China, which "very much helped in their recovery," Shinar said. Before being able to donate plasma, a patient must wait 14 days after being confirmed negative for coronavirus via two separate swab tests. Thus, the first plasma was donated only on April 1.