DAYTON — As Miami Valley Hospital has seen a recent spike in COVID-19 patients, doctors say they’ve seen a sudden shortage of plasma that might help those patients recover.
Dr. Steven Burdette, Medical Director of Infection Prevention at Miami Valley, told News Center 7′s Sean Cudahy Wednesday, the hospital has seen an increase in sick coronavirus patients.
“The numbers are definitely higher,” Dr. Burdette said. “The acuity of COVID we’re seeing in the hospital is as high as we’ve seen in this entire pandemic.”
For some of these patients, Dr. Burdette said, part of the treatment plan includes infusions of COVID-19 convalescent plasma, which, he said, seems to help some recover.
But in recent days, the hospital has had more difficulty finding available plasma, resulting in wait times for some patients, and no plasma for others, depending on their blood type and plasma availability
“To tell somebody I can’t give you plasma right now because I don’t have it… it’s frustrating,” Dr. Burdette said.
According to the Community Blood Center in Dayton, which procures plasma donations, the problem stems from having such a small number of donors. To donate COVID-19 Convalescent plasma, a patient must have had coronavirus, recovered and developed antibodies.
For months, now, the center has taken donations from patients who tested positive for COVID-19 with a nasal swab, then had a subsequent test indicating they had recovered and tested negative.
Mark Pompilio, Public Relations and Marketing Manager for the Community Blood Center, said the center has seen repeated donations from a small base of donors who fit that criteria. But he said in recent weeks, the region has developed a need for more donation.
“The demand has increased, and the size of our donor base has not,” Pompilio said.
One way the Community Blood Center is trying to combat this shortage is by expanding its donor base. The center announced Tuesday, instead of requiring proof of a positive nasal swab test, it will now accept plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients with proof of a positive antibody test.
“The important thing about this change is that it kind of retroactively makes someone eligible to be a plasma donor,” Pompilio said.
The hope is that with more donors, more plasma will be available to patients.
“It’s not perfect,” Dr. Burdette said. “But we’ve seen many patients who I think have had an excellent response to plasma.”
Donors must sign up and pay for the antibody test themselves; the Community Blood Center does not perform antibody testing.
Details on how to donate can be found at givingblood.org.
Cox Media Group
