Published in:
Open Access
01-12-2020 | Coronavirus | Editorial
A novel treatment approach to the novel coronavirus: an argument for the use of therapeutic plasma exchange for fulminant COVID-19
Authors:
Philip Keith, Matthew Day, Linda Perkins, Lou Moyer, Kristi Hewitt, Adam Wells
Published in:
Critical Care
|
Issue 1/2020
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Excerpt
The novel coronavirus (“SARS-CoV-2”) outbreak has created a sense of panic globally and has the medical community rapidly searching for answers. An estimated 100,000 individuals have already been infected with nearly 3300 deaths attributed to the disease (termed COVID-19) [
1]. The search for effective treatment is underway with multiple investigations ongoing across the world. Chinese authorities have reported success treating infected patients with donated plasma from survivors of the illness, the proposed benefit being protective antibodies formed by the survivors [
2]. Plasma transfusion and blood purification are not novel therapies, and we propose therapeutic plasma exchange as a possible treatment for fulminant COVID-19. …
