Doylestown Health Seeking Coronavirus Plasma Donors

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Doylestown Health announced this week it is assisting the American Red Cross with collecting convalescent plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients as a treatment for those with serious infections.

The surgery involves convalescent plasma taken from donors who recently recovered from the coronavirus and now have protective antibodies that can be used to fight the virus, according to health officials.

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Doylestown Hospital is seeking patients who have recovered from COVID-19 and have been symptom free for 14 days. Donors must have an initially confirmed positive diagnosis and be willing to retest to confirm now negative.

If you think you might be a candidate for donation, take the Doylestown Health questionnaire, which can be found here.

Just this week, a Chester County woman became American Red Cross's first donor for experimental convalescent plasma therapy in the country. Her donation helped the first two New Jersey residents to receive the transfusions, Virtua Health said.

Marisa Leuzzi of Downington, made the first donation to her aunt, 63-year-old Renee Bannister of Gloucester County, New Jersey. Bannister, a teacher, was on a ventilator for three weeks when she received the convalescent plasma transfusion. She has since recovered from the coronavirus.

Leuzzi's donation provided enough plasma to also help 61-year-old Andy Fei of Mount Laurel, New Jersey, who had been on a ventilator for six days before receiving the donation.

Read more: Chester County Woman Is Red Cross's 1st Coronavirus Plasma Donor