Henry E Wang1, Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner2, Jeffrey Katz3, Audrey Wanger4, Yu Bai4, Sujatha Sridhar5, Bela Patel6. 1. Department of Emergency Medicine, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA. 2. Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA. 3. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, Houston, Texas, USA. 4. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA. 5. Clinical Trials Resource Center, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA. 6. Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Convalescent plasma is used as a treatment for COVID-19. Only limited data describe the efforts to recruit COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) donors. We describe our experience engaging persons recovered from COVID-19 to donate CCP. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of the CCP recruitment for an 11-hospital health system in Houston, Texas. We sought CCP donations from: a) "volunteers" responding to advertisements in social media, press releases, and websites and b) "referred" individuals directed to the program or identified from hospitalization records. We determined the proportions of donor candidates who passed initial telephone health screening, who qualified after diagnostic testing, who presented to the regional CCP donation center, and who completed CCP donation. RESULTS: There were 900 CCP donor candidates, including 363 volunteers and 537 referred donors. Of 360 contacted volunteers, 186 (5.7%) were excluded by interview; 133 were referred for additional diagnostic screening, 97 completed donor antibody and antigen testing, and 87 were qualified for CCP donation, resulting in 35 CCP donations (9.7% of initial telephone contacts). Among 533 referred donors, 448 (84.1%) were excluded by interview, 71 were referred for additional screening, 48 completed donor antibody and antigen testing, and 40 were qualified for CCP donation, resulting in one CCP donation (0.2% of initial telephone contacts). CONCLUSION: In this community, screening of a high number of candidates yielded a limited number of CCP donations. These observations have important implications for CCP donor recruitment and community pandemic planning.
BACKGROUND: Convalescent plasma is used as a treatment for COVID-19. Only limited data describe the efforts to recruit COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) donors. We describe our experience engaging persons recovered from COVID-19 to donate CCP. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of the CCP recruitment for an 11-hospital health system in Houston, Texas. We sought CCP donations from: a) "volunteers" responding to advertisements in social media, press releases, and websites and b) "referred" individuals directed to the program or identified from hospitalization records. We determined the proportions of donor candidates who passed initial telephone health screening, who qualified after diagnostic testing, who presented to the regional CCP donation center, and who completed CCP donation. RESULTS: There were 900 CCP donor candidates, including 363 volunteers and 537 referred donors. Of 360 contacted volunteers, 186 (5.7%) were excluded by interview; 133 were referred for additional diagnostic screening, 97 completed donor antibody and antigen testing, and 87 were qualified for CCP donation, resulting in 35 CCP donations (9.7% of initial telephone contacts). Among 533 referred donors, 448 (84.1%) were excluded by interview, 71 were referred for additional screening, 48 completed donor antibody and antigen testing, and 40 were qualified for CCP donation, resulting in one CCP donation (0.2% of initial telephone contacts). CONCLUSION: In this community, screening of a high number of candidates yielded a limited number of CCP donations. These observations have important implications for CCP donor recruitment and community pandemic planning.
Authors: Kritika Srinivasan Rajsri; Michael P McRae; Glennon W Simmons; Nicolaos J Christodoulides; Hanover Matz; Helen Dooley; Akiko Koide; Shohei Koide; John T McDevitt Journal: Biosensors (Basel) Date: 2022-08-10