Blood plasma with high levels of COVID-19 antibodies reduced the number of patient deaths by 25%

Convalescent plasma infusions can help reduce the number of coronavirus deaths, a new study suggests.  Researchers looked at people ill with COVID-19 who received blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients. When given early enough, patients who received antibody-rich plasma had a one-quarter lower risk of death than those given plasma with low concentrations of COVID-19 … Read more

Convalescent plasma does NOT work: Doctors pause trial of drug because no proof it works

Convalescent plasma has been used to treat infections for at least a century, dating back to the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.   It was also trialed during the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza virus pandemic, 2003 SARS epidemic, and the 2012 MERS epidemic.  Convalescent plasma was used as a last resort to improve the survival rate of patients … Read more

Energy: Experimental fusion reactor in the UK successfully produces its first super-hot ‘plasma’

In a step towards cleaner and safer nuclear energy using the same reactions that power the Sun, a UK experimental fusion reactor has powered on for the first time. Fusion power works by colliding heavy hydrogen atoms to form helium — releasing vast amounts of energy in the process, as occurs naturally in the centre … Read more

Convalescent plasma therapy DOESN’T cut the risk of dying from Covid-19

Convalescent plasma has been used to treat infections for at least a century, dating back to the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.   It was also trialed during the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza virus pandemic, 2003 SARS epidemic, and the 2012 MERS epidemic.  Convalescent plasma was used as a last resort to improve the survival rate of patients … Read more

Coronavirus antibodies from blood plasma donations start to fade three months after symptoms start

Coronavirus antibodies in blood plasma donations fade rapidly after symptoms first appear, a new study suggests. Researchers followed a small group of recovered COVID-19 patients who donated their blood and found all of them showed decreases in antibodies after three months. What’s more, just three weeks later, levels for half of the detectable antibodies fell … Read more

Europe’s largest telescope snaps images of the sun showing intricate details of sunspots and plasma

Europe’s largest telescope captures stunning images of the sun showing intricate details of sunspots and plasma unlike anything researchers had seen before Europe’s largest telescope captured its first high-resolution images of the sun  It snapped solar magnetic fields taken at a wavelength 516 nanometers  The telescope was also able to take a picture sunspots at 430 … Read more

NIH panel says not enough data showing plasma therapy is effective at treating coronavirus

US health officials divided over plasma treatment for COVID-19: NIH panel says the newly FDA-approved treatment touted by Trump makes ‘no difference’ to coronavirus survival odds Convalescent plasma therapy is when the liquid portion of blood is taken from a recovered coronavirus patient It is transferred into a sick patient in hopes they will develop … Read more

Scientists are wary after the Trump administration approves blood plasma as COVID-19 treatment

Health experts are wary after the recent approval of convalescent blood plasma as a treatment for coronavirus patients in the US. On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced the experimental therapy had been issued emergency use authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The commander-in-chief lauded the news as a ”very big day’ and … Read more

Donald Trump announces FDA approval for convalescent plasma treatment for coronavirus

Donald Trump is urging Americans who have recovered from coronavirus to donate their blood plasma as he announced Sunday that the FDA has given an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma to be used as a treatment for coronavirus.   ‘This is a very big day,’ the president touted. These new authorization means those who had … Read more

FDA approval of COVID-19 survivors’ plasma is put on hold

US regulators have put a hold on the emergency approval process for the use of blood plasma taken from coronavirus survivors to treat people still battling the infection, an official told the New York Times.  Plasma is rich in immune cells developed by the body as it combats coronavirus and some studies have suggested that … Read more