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In Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, a corona patient has received plasma from someone who has been cured of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. That happened last Wednesday. It is the first time that someone in the Netherlands has received this treatment. The patient participates in scientific research to determine whether plasma administration can favorably influence the course of the disease.
The research revolves around so-called antibodies. Those who become infected with a virus usually make antibodies against it. These antibodies end up in the plasma: the blood without the blood cells.
Antibodies stick to different pieces of the surface of virus particles and thus neutralize viruses. Antibodies also act as a kind of signal flag: they let defense cells know that they have to clean up the virus particles.
Small studies
The hope now is that plasma with antibodies against the coronavirus will promote the recovery of corona patients. "During the SARS outbreak in 2003, for example, a number of small studies were carried out with plasma of people who had been cured from SARS," says internist infectiologist Bart Rijnders, who leads the study at Erasmus MC.
"Those studies in SARS patients cautiously suggest that administration of plasma with antibodies reduces the risk of death. It may help to shorten hospital stays and reduce the number of virus particles," said Rijnders.