Potential treatments for COVID-19

3. Plasma transfusion therapy

Convalescent plasma collected from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 contains antibodies that are effective in combating the virus.

Plasma transfusion therapy has been used to treat critically ill patients infected with the novel coronavirus in China. As of March 8, more than 1,000 recovered patients have donated more than 350,000 milliliters of plasma to help save other patients.

About 200 to 300 milliliters of pure plasma are drawn from donors each time.

As plasma donated from recovered patients is in short supply and involves a complicated processing procedure and high costs, its use is mainly limited to the treatment of severe patients.