Turkish university begins passive immunization

A university in eastern Turkey has begun using blood plasma for the passive immunization of novel coronavirus patients.

"Treatment started yesterday [April 5] by collecting plasma from a patient who has recovered from the novel coronavirus and subsequently tested negative," said Ahmet Kızılay the rector of İnönü University in Malatya province.

Pointing to China's reported success with this method, Kızılay said in a statement: "For the first time in Turkey, the Turgut Özal Medical Center in the university took plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients with the plasmapheresis
method and applied it to another patient who is under intensive care in very serious condition."

"Our aim here is to give the antibodies taken from the recovered patients to the patient in intensive care," he said, adding that this method had previously been used to treat SARS and Ebola as well.

He also called on people who recovered from the coronavirus to support this method, stressing that there were no side effects for recovered patients.