Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Not Exactly A Shot In The Dark, But It’s Not Tried And True': Doctors Hope For The Best On Plasma Treatment
The New York Times: Blood Plasma From Survivors Will Be Given To Coronavirus Patients
Can blood from coronavirus survivors help other people fight the illness? Doctors in New York will soon be testing the idea in hospitalized patients who are seriously ill. Blood from people who have recovered can be a rich source of antibodies, proteins made by the immune system to attack the virus. The part of the blood that contains antibodies, so-called convalescent plasma, has been used for decades to treat infectious diseases, including Ebola and influenza. (Grady, 3/26)
Time: Blood Plasma Treatment For COVID-19 To Be Tested In New York
Before antibiotics rendered the practice moot, it was common to treat infectious bacterial diseases by infusing the blood of recovered patients into those struggling with infection. That approach has also been tried against viral infections like H1N1 influenza, SARS and MERS, with inconsistent success. Some patients benefited, but other did not and doctors don’t have a clear understanding of why. But during an evolving pandemic like COVID-19, plasma-based treatments can provide a critical stop-gap while therapies and vaccines are developed. The idea is relatively simple, and based on the concept of passive immunity. People who have recovered from an COVID-19 infection have likely done so because their immune systems developed strong immune responses to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the illness. (Park, 3/26)
NPR: Research On Monoclonal Antibody Treatments Takes Aim At COVID-19
When our bodies are invaded by a virus, our immune systems make particular proteins called antibodies to help fight off infection. Scientists working to quell the COVID-19 pandemic think it will be possible to figure out which antibodies are most potent in quashing a coronavirus infection, and then make vast quantities of identical copies of these proteins synthetically. (Palca, 3/26)
