TORONTO -- Among the slew of terms you鈥檇 likely not heard of before 2020, there鈥檚 one that some believe could turn the year around: convalescent plasma.
The phrase has been part of the COVID-19 conversation for months already, but this week it jumped back to the forefront as U.S. President Donald Trump announced an emergency authorization Sunday for the use of convalescent plasma in treating coronavirus patients.
Though the evidence is shaky and incomplete, there is some preliminary research that suggests it could be helpful.
But what is it exactly?
Put simply, convalescent plasma is the blood of a recovered patient. Plasma is the 鈥溾 component of blood, and the word convalescence comes from Latin words for 鈥渢ogether鈥 and 鈥.鈥 A patient has 鈥渃onvalesced鈥 when they recover from an infection.
It鈥檚 not a new medical concept. The use of convalescent plasma predates vaccines, and originated in 1901 when Emil von Behring by injecting them with antibodies taken from animals that had recovered form the bacterial infection.
Scientists have been discussing convalescent plasma since early in the pandemic. In an April , Dana Devine, chief scientist at Canadian Blood Services, explained how it works:
鈥淭he reason that we鈥檙e interested in that is because when you鈥檝e recovered from an illness, your immune system has developed a set of antibody molecules that are now present in your plasma that weren鈥檛 there before,鈥 she said.
鈥淭he antibodies in that plasma, from the patient who has recovered, would then be there to attack the virus in the patient who is still ill.鈥
Devine added that the plasma is an 鈥渋nterim鈥 measure, not an ongoing treatment, and would most likely be used for people in the early stages of the disease and as a prophylactic or preventative treatment for front-line workers.
Research is still underway regarding the efficacy of convalescent plasma for treating COVID-19. Earlier this month, scientists with the reported reduced death rates among some convalescent plasma patients, but the results weren鈥檛 gleaned from a formal clinical trial and instead were part of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration program to increase access to the plasma.
Convalescent plasma is currently 鈥 in Canada as research continues.
