Plasma Donation - All you need to know

What is Plasma?

Plasma is the clear, straw-colored liquid portion of blood that remains after red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and other cellular components are removed. It is the single largest component of human blood, comprising about 55 percent, and contains water, salts, enzymes, antibodies and other proteins.

• Composed of 90% water, plasma is a transporting medium for cells and a variety of substances vital to the human body.
  
  
• Plasma carries out a variety of functions in the body, including clotting blood, fighting diseases and other critical functions.
  
  
• Source plasma is plasma that is collected from healthy, voluntary donors through a process called plasmapheresis and is used exclusively for further manufacturing into final therapies (fractionation). Source plasma donors may be compensated for their time and effort.
  
  
• Recovered plasma is collected through whole blood donation in which plasma is separated from its cellular components. Recovered plasma may be used for fractionation.
  
  

What is Blood Plasma Used For?

Plasma is commonly given to trauma, burn and shock patients, as well as people with severe liver disease or multiple clotting factor deficiencies. It helps boost the patient’s blood volume, which can prevent shock, and helps with blood clotting. Pharmaceutical companies use plasma to make treatments for conditions such as immune deficiencies and bleeding disorders.

Is donating plasma safe?

Donating does a lot of good. Blood plasma is needed for many modern medical therapies. These include treatments for immune system conditions, bleeding, and respiratory disorders, as well as blood transfusions and wound healing. Plasma donation is necessary to collect enough plasma for medical treatments.

Donating plasma is mostly a safe process, but side effects do exist. Plasma is a component of your blood. To donate plasma, blood is drawn from your body and processed through a machine that separates and collects the plasma. The other components of the blood, such as the red blood cells, are returned to your body mixed with saline to replace the withdrawn plasma.

Donating plasma can cause common but usually minor side effects like dehydration and fatigue. Serious side effects may occur as well, although these are rare.

Plasma is rich in nutrients and salts. These are important in keeping the body alert and functioning properly. Losing some of these substances through plasma donation can lead to an electrolyte imbalance. This can result in dizziness, fainting, and lightheadedness.

Donate COVID-19 Plasma

Who can donate plasma?

If you have fully recovered from COVID-19, you may be able to help patients currently fighting the infection by donating your plasma. Because you fought the infection, your plasma now contains COVID-19 antibodies. These antibodies provided one way for your immune system to fight the virus when you were sick, so your plasma may be able to be used to help others fight off the disease.

What is Convalescent Plasma?

Convalescent plasma is the liquid part of blood that is collected from patients who have recovered from the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 patients develop antibodies in the blood against the virus. Antibodies are proteins that might help fight the infection. Convalescent plasma is being investigated for the treatment of COVID-19 because there is no approved treatment for this disease and there is some information that suggests it might help some patients recover from COVID-19.

How Does the Plasma Collection Process Work?

Plasmapheresis (pronounced PLAZ-mah fair-EE-sis) is the automated plasma collection process we use at each of our plasma donation centers. A specialized medical device separates the plasma from the blood through this safe and sterile process. The plasma is collected while the remaining blood (including red blood cells and white blood cells) is returned to you, the plasma donor. Remember, our plasma-protein medicines require plasma, not blood – so we take only what we need, and you keep the rest.

This collection process is the most effective way of extracting plasma from the blood, and since your body replenishes plasma quickly, it makes the recovery process faster and easier. As a result, you can make your life-saving donations more frequently – up to twice in a seven-day period, with 48 hours between donations.

After donating plasma

Your body usually replaces the plasma you’ve donated in 24-48 hours and you can get on with your normal day after donating.

To help you stay well you should:

• eat and drink – we will give you drinks and snacks before you leave
• keep the pressure dressing on your arm for about 30 minutes, and the plaster on for 6 hours
• avoid using your donation arm to carry anything very heavy for the rest of the day
• avoid having a hot bath after you have given plasma
• avoid heavy exercise