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PRESS RELEASE JULY 2020 – PLEA FOR PLASMA

08 Jul

PRESS RELEASE JULY 2020 – PLEA FOR PLASMA

by rodricoco
in Emergency Management
Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 6, 2020

Contact: Steve Vancore (850) 528-4109 | Tina Vidal-Duart (786) 423-0577

ONE OF STATE’S LARGEST COVID-19 TESTING COMPANIES ISSUES PLEA FOR PLASMA

CDR Maguire Cites Medical Science and Company President’s Recovery

Tallahassee, Florida – Today, CDR Maguire, one of the state’s leading COVID-19 testing companies, issued an urgent plea for those Floridians who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their plasma.

 

Company President, Carlos Duart, was recently hospitalized and placed in a step-down intensive care unit with complications from COVID-19. After receiving plasma from a recovered COVID-19 patient, his condition improved dramatically, and his treating physicians now feel he is on his way to a full recovery.

 

Executive Vice-President, Tina Vidal-Duart, said, “Carlos’ situation was dire and there were very few options to help him. After receiving convalescent plasma, the reversal of his condition was borderline miraculous.”

 

She added, “Perhaps the most frightening thing was the severe shortage of plasma from those who have recovered from this horrific virus. We are asking everyone we test and now the public to please – if you have recovered from COVID-19 – donate your plasma, as it can and will save lives.”

 

Vidal’s admonition is however more than anecdote as recent science also points to the success of using what is known as “convalescent plasma.” This blood plasma, when collected from those who have recovered from COVID-19, contains vital antibodies that in many conditions, and for many patients, can help fight the virus.

 

Further, the highly regarded Mayo Clinic has released findings from a second study, using convalescent plasma. The new study from Mayo titled, “Safety Update: COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma in 20,000 Hospitalized Patients,” concludes that, “updated data provides robust evidence that transfusion of convalescent plasma is safe in hospitalized patients with COVID-19, and supports the notion that earlier administration of plasma within the clinical course of COVID-19 is more likely to reduce mortality.”

 

Additionally:

Dr. Carla McWilliams, chief of infectious diseases for Cleveland Clinic Florida-Weston, said regarding patients who have received is that they, “improved dramatically within a couple days.”

Samer Fahmy, M.D., chief medical information officer at Boca Raton Regional Hospital: “CP therapy has been shown to reduce mortality and complications in patients who are critically ill with COVID-19”, and “So far, we have infused close to 60 patients, many of whom have significant comorbidities, and the results have been very promising. We’ve already discharged a number of patients who were in the ICU.”

Ed Gorak, head of cancer medicine at Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Baptist trial’s principal investigator has said, “This is an opportunity for recovered COVID-19 patients to aid those who are suffering from the virus right now”, and “We want our COVID-19 patients to have every possible treatment option available to them and we are excited to add convalescent plasma to our list.”

“We are grateful for the progress that Carlos has made but want to do everything we can to help other patients. The systemic shortage of convalescent plasma, especially for rare blood types like his, means this is an urgent matter and we strongly encourage anyone who has tested positive and has recovered to please donate their plasma as soon as possible,” Vidal urged.

 

For Floridians wishing to donate their plasma as a way to help other COVID-19 patients we suggest they start by reaching out to either Oneblood.org or the COVID-19 Alliance:

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