Antibodies found in blood of recovered coronavirus patients could offer a path to treatment
Original article from Boston Herald by , 2020
Labs around the world are seeking blood samples from recovered coronavirus patients in hopes that their antibodies could unlock a path to treatment for current patients struggling with the contagious disease.
“People that have been exposed to COVID-19 and have recovered likely have made a very strong and effective adaptive immune response against it and that immune response is going to be significantly made up of antibodies that now recognize the proteins of SARS-CoV-2,” said John Connor of Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories.
Antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system in response to infections and can be found through tests of blood serum — the clear liquid that separates out when blood clots.
Getting those antibodies through blood plasma and infusing it into a current coronavirus patient could serve as a transplanted immune defense, Connor said.