An article in the LA Times today ‘An Old remedy for new contagion‘ discusses the long history of the use of convalescent plasma in the treatment of deadly diseases before the development of vaccines in the 1940s. Convalescent serum is taken from the blood of people who have been infected and recovered. There are antibodies in their blood serum that will fight the disease. This treatment was used for diphtheria, smallpox, measles, polio, and tetanus successfully before vaccines. Immunologists in the US have come together to create “the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project, a consortium of 260 doctors and scientists from 57 institutions around the country. Members of their coalition have launched more than 50 laboratory studies and clinical trials…” (LA Times). The early results will be out soon. Let’s hope the results will show positive outcomes and can help save lives before we are able to have an effective vaccine.

Featured image of Dr. Emil Adolph Von Behring who won the Nobel Prize in 1901 for his work on convalescent serum in the treatment of diphtheria via Wikimedia.org

We Are The World Blogfest, #WATWB, is a monthly blogfest dedicated to “positive stories no matter where they’re found. It is all about spreading peace and humanity on social media.”  Co-hosts for this month,  Susan Scott, Peter Nena, Shilpa Garg, Inderpreet Kaur Uppal, and Eric Lahti welcome participants and encourage all to join in.