Health & Fitness
‘Critical Need’ For COVID-19 Survivors’ Plasma Deepens Amid Surge
Unless there is a sudden swell in plasma donations, Versiti Blood Center says it might not be able to keep up with "unprecedented" demand.
AURORA, IL — As coronavirus cases and hospitalizations surge throughout Illinois, Versiti Blood Center is desperately urging people to donate their plasma if they’ve beaten the coronavirus.
The Aurora-based organization says it is “struggling to keep up with hospital needs” amid a new wave of the coronavirus that is engulfing Illinois and much of the U.S.
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The demand for COVID-19 convalescent plasma, a blood-related treatment for patients suffering most severely with the disease, has doubled in just four weeks; and that demand is expected to continue growing “very rapidly,” Versiti said in a news release.
“We are facing a critical need,” said Dan Waxman, Versiti’s vice president of transfusion medicine and senior medical officer. “Without intervention from the community, we face the very real possibility that we won’t be able to fill orders for patients in hospitals we serve.”
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In recent weeks, Versiti’s supply of COVID-19 convalescent plasma dropped from four weeks to four days, Waxman said, pleading with people to donate their plasma if they had the coronavirus and have been free of symptoms for 14 days.
For the first eight months of the coronavirus pandemic, Versiti was able to meet the needs of its hospital partners with help from other blood centers, but “those backup resources might soon not be available,” the organization said.
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Those who have already donated plasma can call 877-BE-A-HERO to schedule another donation, while those who want to donate for the first time should visit versiti.org/covid19plasma to sign up. Donors are able to give plasma up to a dozen times, according to the organization.
Versiti Blood Center has a dozen locations in Illinois, as well as facilities in Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio.
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