Oklahoma Blood Institute Antigen Test Detects Convalescent Plasma Used To Treat COVID-19 Patients

OKLAHOMA CITY –  News 9

Many people with COVID-19 turn to monoclonal treatment. The FDA announced last month 2 of the 3 treatments are no longer effective.

Blood Donors with high COVID-19 antibodies are once again in high demand.

“It’s wonderful to save a life of somebody who has been in a trauma or somebody who is going through surgery, but it feels doubly great to beat down on covid and fight off this social damage,” said John Armitage, M.D. the President and CEO of the Oklahoma Blood Institute.

The FDA announced December 28, 2021, that convalescent plasma and other therapeutic treatments created in 2020 and 2021 are no longer effective with the new strains of the virus.

“They took away all our old inventory and said ‘that is all dated that doesn’t fight omicron. Go collect some more,” said the Doctor.

Dr. Armitage said thankfully their new antigen test can detect Convalescent Plasma.

“With convalescent plasma, we get a chance to bridge that gap in the manufacturing of the new generation of monoclonals,” he said.

The test is included in a normal blood donation. If the Donor’s antibody measurement is high enough OBI will turn it into Convalescent Plasma.

“COVID-19, it strikes people, and it destroys schools, and it destroys businesses, and you know it just seems to be a metal level bad that we can fight with the plasma,” said the CEO of OBI.

Dr. Armitage said a recent study backs up the effectiveness of the treatment.

“If you want to drop hospitalizations the best data, we will probably ever have on outpatient use of convalescent plasma says you can drop it by 50%. 1 in 2 people if you get this, they won’t end up going into the hospital where they otherwise would have,” said the Doctor.

OBI said Oklahoma hospitals are already reaching out about this plasma treatment.