Coronavirus survivors may have special antibodies that could be used to save lives

A yellowish component called convalescent plasma that can be separated from blood has recently been given to a small number of people in the United States to fight against the virus.

The testing is still at the early stages but the plasma may also have the ability to be used as a prophylactic to aid immune systems, according to CBC News.

“You can give it to health-care workers or people who have been exposed but haven't become ill yet,” noted Dr. Eldad Hod, a transfusion specialist at the Columbia University Irving Medical Centre in New York.

These kinds of trials would usually take about one or two years years to complete but the urgency of the pandemic is speeding up the process.

“I think in the right scenario, it should work. And we just have to figure out what those right scenarios are,” Hod added.

“Everyone has different symptoms, but antibodies come in different flavours as well. And so people are developing different antibody responses to the virus. It may be that certain antibodies are beneficial and certain antibodies are harmful.”

Hod said that focusing on a trial for health-care workers who have already been exposed to the virus is the next step.

Hod’s team will use blood from a bank carrying the blood of coronavirus survivors who have been free of the virus for 14 to 28 days. They are looking for blood with a high level of antibodies—also referred to as “high titers.”

One of those coronavirus survivors is Diana Berrent who noted, “My doctor said my plasma is like liquid gold.”

Berrent is a 45-year-old mother of two, working as a photographer in Long Island N.Y. On March 13, she woke up to a fever of 102 (38.9) with the feeling of a heavy weight on her chest. She then quarantined herself for 18 days besides getting tested.

She decided to start Survivor Corps for those with antibodies that may be able to help.

“It dawned on me that if I was lucky, I was going to come out with antibodies, with some degree of immunity,” Berrent said

“If we could gather together, rally around, we could as a group truly give back to society and help stem the tide of this pandemic.”

Berrent began a Facebook group that gained 30,000 members in just three weeks. This weekend, the Survivor Corps website went up containing information and testimonials about the U.S. studies.

The Washington Post included the project in the top 20 innovative ideas in the fight against coronavirus.

“New York, where I live, is right now the epicentre of this pandemic. But Survivor Corps is the epicentre of hope,” Berrent said.

Berrent found out she was an ideal plasma candidate after she had her blood tested in the Columbia University study and the results showed high levels of antibodies.

She made her first blood donation on Wednesday, at a New York clinic.

"I felt like a superhero," Berrent noted adding that she will be donating once a week until the end of the pandemic.

“One of the real emotional tolls of this entire experience on a global level is a feeling of helplessness,” Berrent said. “You're sick and you're home and you're scared, and knowing that at the end of this that you could save lives is a tremendously motivating factor.”

Convalescent plasma was also used as a part of the H1N1 response in 2009. Hod says that use of the plasma has not been proven for every case and may even be harmful in severely ill patients.

“If you think about someone who is very sick, they have the virus in their lungs. If you give them plasma with antibodies in it, it may actually cause their immune system to attack their lungs and make things worse rather than better,” he said.

Scientists and physicians are working together to make clinical trials and start plasma banks around the world.

A critical test bringing antibody research to the next step was developed by scientists at Krammer lab in New York in early March.

A Canadian trial that is being developed would be focused on giving the convalescent plasma to hospital patients who are on oxygen and not a respirator.

The Canadian Blood Service is working with Hema Quebec to find donors to test and bank plasma that would then be delivered to university research teams and hospitals.

Most donors would likely be from Ontario and Quebec as those provinces have the highest number of cases.

“We want to do it right, upfront,” Hod said.

“I'm getting heartfelt emails—I have an uncle or a daughter and I want to just give them plasma. It's difficult for me to say that any hospital could theoretically request it for compassionate use, but at the moment, we don't truly know whether it's going to be beneficial or harmful.”