He recovered from the coronavirus. Now his plasma donation could save the lives of others

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And so we take the plasma from those people that have recovered so well, meaning their plasma is rich and antibodies against the virus and transfusing it into six patients. Six patients very, very, very powerfully. President Trump on Sunday touted the FDA is emergency approval of a blood related therapy to see if it could lessen the severity of the Corona virus. Our viewers also want to know whether it would work. Can you talk about the plasma question? So there is very good data now that individuals who have developed antibodies that is to say they've been infected with the Corona virus can have their blood taken. They could be what we call for East and that their plasma can be used to treat people who are infected. That was widely used during the time of the Ebola outbreak in 2014 2015. And it was really quite effective, and I understand that there are at least thousands of instances now where individuals who have recovered from the Corona virus have been willing to donate their blood, have their plasma for east for purposes not necessarily are preventing the Corona virus, but of treating individuals who are quite ill. Jennifer wants to know. And from Facebook. Can you get this virus through donated plasma? Now? I'm not aware of any demonstrated transmission through blood transfusion process. I wouldn't say that we won't read about the first anecdotal case tomorrow, but thus far it has not been something at least that I'm aware of. The FDA stresses there are no FDA approved therapeutics or drugs to treat, Cure or Prevent Cove in 19 but the agency says it hopes to expedite innovative treatments. Thio ease the symptoms in Washington I'm chief national investigative correspondent Mark Albert.

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A California man who was diagnosed with the coronavirus and recovered has donated his plasma to help others fighting the potentially deadly virus.On March 6, Jason Garcia noticed he had a mild cough and some congestion.The 36-year-old aerospace engineer from Escondido, California, didn't think that much of it. But later while on a work trip, he noticed a headache had begun accompanying his cough. Within a day, he also had a fever and body aches that quickly came and went. Then he began experiencing shortness of breath.Garcia called his doctor and based on his symptoms was told to go to the hospital and get tested for coronavirus.A positive test resultHe was sent home and received a call on March 14 letting him know he had tested positive."They said stay isolated," Garcia said. "That's what I did."He spent nearly 10 days inside his home, confined to his office or his guest room, staying away from his active-duty Navy wife and their 11-month-old daughter.He started to feel better, and on March 18, he said he considered himself "symptom free."He received a letter from the county of San Diego saying that it was safe for him to come out of isolation and rejoined the world on March 23.Garcia said although the protocol for coming out of isolation was 72 hours without symptoms, he wanted to be extra careful. "I decided to do five days just to be safe," he said.Victory over the virusTo celebrate his recovery, he posted on social media to let his friends know he had been infected with coronavirus and was better.Garcia said he wrote: "I claimed victory over this deadly virus. I won over COVID-19."Around the same time, health officials at St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange County, California, also took to social media to say they were looking for someone who had been diagnosed with coronavirus and had recovered to help with an experimental treatment to potentially save the life of another coronavirus patient.A friend who saw both social media posts reached out and the hospital called Garcia just a few days after his quarantine had ended, he said.A potentially lifesaving donationThey asked him for a plasma donation to be given to a coronavirus patient who was in dire condition and unresponsive to other treatments, Garcia said.He said yes. "This can be turned into a lifesaving opportunity for someone who can't fight off this disease," Garcia said.The plasma donation will allow the current coronavirus patient to receive antibodies from Garcia, a recovered patient, to help fight off the virus, Wendy Escobedo, director of nursing for renal services at St. Joseph's Hospital said in a video provided by the hospital.On April 1, Garcia donated his plasma for experimental transfer into three patients.As of Sunday, he said, doctors told him that all of his plasma has been donated. The patient who was in the worst condition has since improved, Garcia said doctors told him.The patient was taken off some medication, is healthier in terms of oxygenation and is doing incrementally better day-by-day, a spokesperson for the hospital told CNN in an email late Sunday night."When I was diagnosed, the feeling of dread and fear, the fact this was a positive," Garcia explained. "This thing ended up possibly saving someone's life."Although Garcia doesn't know how he became infected with the virus, he's glad he might contribute to a treatment until a vaccine is ready."If this works, there's going to be an awesome chance for people to save a lot of heartache for others and fight the fight for their lives."