KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Blount County man who recovered from COVID-19 is now planning to donate his plasma to help coronavirus patients in the future.
It's a method recently approved by the FDA and is still being studied, but MEDIC Regional Blood Center in East Tennessee is already planning on accepting donations from recovered COVID-19 patients at some point to pass their antibodies on to those battling the virus.
Kyle Hooker is back to business as usual after suffering from the coronavirus for close to three weeks. He had all the usual symptoms, along with not being able to taste or smell anything.
"Of course, nobody thinks they're going to get this and you think you're invincible," Hooker said. "That's when it kind of hit home with me that maybe this is something to be worried about."
Now that this husband and father of three has recovered, he's planning to donate his plasma to MEDIC to help others who will suffer from the virus in the future.
"I think there's no better way that you can help somebody," Hooker admitted.
MEDIC's Director of Communications and Donor Engagement, Kristy Altman, said the method is called "convalescent plasma treatment."
"[It's] the transfusion of the plasma from someone who has recovered from an infection to someone suffering from it in the hopes that the passive transfer of antibodies will help the patient fight off the infection," Altman explained.
MEDIC doesn't have a timeline on when they will be able to accept those donations, but there are some guidelines that have to be followed from the recovered coronavirus patients first.
The patients who want to donate have to be completely symptom free for at least 28 days. They also have to have a confirmed positive COVID-19 diagnosis from a lab test.
Altman said they have received many calls from people who think they may have had it, but don't have a positive lab test for the virus. Those people won't be able to donate through the convalescent treatment program without that positive test.
This type of antibody treatment through plasma isn't a new concept, it's been used for Measles, Polio, SARS and even Ebola.
"It's something that is not new, but certainly, for this case, it's appropriate and seemingly works so far as what we can tell," Altman assured.
Altman said Hooker is the first confirmed positive case to reach out to MEDIC for this service and hopes other cured patients will consider doing the same.
"As soon as I can get back in as soon as Jim and MEDIC let me know that it's available, I'm ready to give," Hooker smiled.
You have to make an appointment at MEDIC to donate blood or plasma. The blood center is still open because it is considered an essential business.
It's also important to note, MEDIC is not a health care provider and there are no blood tests they can provide that would give a positive result for coronavirus.