Recovered Washington Coronavirus Patients Asked To Donate Blood

SEATTLE, WA — The state department of health has joined forces with Bloodworks Northwest to seek plasma donations from patients who have successfully recovered from the new coronavirus in Washington.

The state is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to contact each patient and verify their health, then run tests to determine the level of antibodies present in their blood.

"When someone is infected with a virus, their body makes antibodies, or proteins, that help their immune system kill the virus," the department of health wrote in a news release. "Plasma is the part of the blood that contains those antibodies. People who have previously been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 may have antibodies specific to the virus."

State health officials said treating patients with plasma donated by those who were previously ill has been successfully used for other infectious diseases and may prove to be an effective treatment before vaccines or other therapies are available.

"Treating patients with the antibody-based products from those who have survived and infection may boost the immune systems of those who are sick and has the potential to save lives," said Dr. Sridhar Basavaraju, director of CDC's Office of Blood, Organ and Other Tissue Safety.

According to the department of health, the CDC began sending letters to recovered patients in Washington earlier this month, asking them to consider plasma donations as soon as possible. Those interested in helping must be symptom-free for 28 days and undergo a full screening. Bloodworks Northwest said only people with lab-confirmed cases are being sought at this time.

Donors who meet the criteria can learn more about the program online and are encouraged to contact Bloodworks via phone or email.

The University of Washington announced new testing capabilities at the UW Virology Lab Friday, which will soon allow thousands of people to be screened for antibodies matching the virus every day. Researchers said the tests will help reveal previously undetected cases and could potentially expand the pool of donors available to donate plasma.