The Kane County Health Department (KCHD) announced that Versiti Blood Centers is seeking plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients to treat community members diagnosed with the virus. Donors must have a documented positive lab test result for COVID-19 and be symptom free for 14 days. The donation process is safe and could help save lives.
Versiti Blood Centers is working with its partner hospitals to identify recovered patients. Potential donors can call 1-866-702-4673 to donate or visit versiti.org/covid19plasma.
The Versiti donor centers in Kane County are at:
• 1200 N. Highland Avenue, Aurora;
• 1140 N. McLean Boulevard, Elgin;
• 2000 W. State Street, Unit 1E, Geneva.
As the number of cases of COVID-19 continue to increase, so does the demand for convalescent plasma. There has been a drop in donations over the past few weeks. Now is a critical time for those who have recovered from the infection to donate and support COVID patients in need.
The donation process for COVID-19 convalescent plasma is the same as with other plasma donations and is performed using an apheresis machine, which separates the blood components. The convalescent plasma donations take about 30-40 minutes and are collected at Versiti donor centers. For more information, see www.versiti.org/ways-to-give/our-communities/illinois.
The plasma treatment transfers the antibodies that the recovered patient created into critically ill patients currently receiving care. Because of the investigational nature of this treatment, it is difficult to predict how many plasma infusions a COVID-19 patient may require. In addition to severely affected patients, this treatment is also being used in patients earlier in their illness in an attempt to limit progression of the virus’ effects.
For additional information and current updates on the COVID-19 situation, visit the KCHD website at KaneHealth.com or call the Health Department at 630-208-3801.
—Kane County Health Department