By — Associated Press Associated Press Leave a comment 0comments Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/watch-trump-fauci-encourage-plasma-donation-after-touring-red-cross-headquarters Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter WATCH: Trump, Fauci encourage plasma donation after touring Red Cross headquarters Health Jul 30, 2020 5:25 PM EDT President Donald Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci joined together to plea with those who have recovered from coronavirus to donate their plasma. Watch Trump’s remarks in the player above. “If you’ve had the virus, if you donate, it would be a terrific thing,” said Trump Thursday at the Red Cross headquarters in Washington. “We really need donations of the plasma, to those that have had the virus. You’ve gotten through it. And I guess that means you have something very special there. Right. So we would appreciate that. It would help a lot of people.” People who have recovered from the coronavirus have developed antibodies to the virus that remain in the plasma portion of their blood. By transfusing plasma from a person who has recovered from COVID-19 into a patient still fighting the virus, it can boost their immune system and potentially help them recover. “We’re talking about another important part of intervention,” said Dr. Fauci. “It’s the intervention early in infection to prevent people from needing to go to the hospital. And that’s really what convalescent plasma is, because the mechanism of it, it is directed against the virus. It’s taking the machinery that Frances has spoken about that the body makes to get a protein to block the virus.” By — Associated Press Associated Press
President Donald Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci joined together to plea with those who have recovered from coronavirus to donate their plasma. Watch Trump’s remarks in the player above. “If you’ve had the virus, if you donate, it would be a terrific thing,” said Trump Thursday at the Red Cross headquarters in Washington. “We really need donations of the plasma, to those that have had the virus. You’ve gotten through it. And I guess that means you have something very special there. Right. So we would appreciate that. It would help a lot of people.” People who have recovered from the coronavirus have developed antibodies to the virus that remain in the plasma portion of their blood. By transfusing plasma from a person who has recovered from COVID-19 into a patient still fighting the virus, it can boost their immune system and potentially help them recover. “We’re talking about another important part of intervention,” said Dr. Fauci. “It’s the intervention early in infection to prevent people from needing to go to the hospital. And that’s really what convalescent plasma is, because the mechanism of it, it is directed against the virus. It’s taking the machinery that Frances has spoken about that the body makes to get a protein to block the virus.”