Sewa International has launched a national registry for COVID-19 Blood Plasma.  As of April 11, the Sewa Plasma Registry (www.sewacovidplasma.org)  is the only 24/7 service that offers a national registry for both donors and recipients under the Convalescent Plasma Therapy program with live phone and social media support. “Our mission is to bring together matching blood donors and COVID-19 patients seeking the plasma, in-time and save lives, and we are open round-the-clock to serve” said Sewa International President, Prof. Sree Sreenath.

What is the Convalescent COVID-19 Plasma Therapy?

Convalescent COVID-19 Plasma Therapy is an FDA regulated investigational therapy where plasma collected from eligible Donors is used as therapy for a restricted class of Recipient Patients, both of whom have compatible blood type.

Donor is:

  1. Male or a non-pregnant female

  2. No prior history of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV, or intravenous drug use

  3. And COVID-19 survivor with either one of the following

Complete resolution of symptoms at least 28 days prior to donation

OR

Complete resolution of symptoms at least 14 days prior to donation, AND Negative results for COVID-19 either from one or more nasopharyngeal swab specimens or by a molecular diagnostic test from blood

Recipient is a COVID-19 patient who is acutely ill with respiratory failure deemed to benefit with this therapy after discussion with his or her physician.

Sewa’s registry is a mobile enabled, fully functional, self-registry service with 24/7 live phone and email support that offers both pre-screening and donor-patient matching services. The registry includes status updates and email communication with an automatic status change intimation. Run by a dedicated team of Sewa volunteers, the services adhere to HIPPA medical data protection laws, and protects the privacy and confidentiality of the registered users (donors and recipients). “A dedicated group of physicians and technologists designed and developed this registry rapidly because they saw the urgent need for such a service nationwide,” said Prem Pusuloori, Sewa Director of National & International Programs.

Users of the registry can call (302) 659 - SEWA / (302) 659 - 7392 or contact via email: plasmasupport@sewausa.org.

Convalescent plasma therapy is an investigational treatment under Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations (see Box) that physicians use to treat patients with respiratory failure from COVID-19. Results have been encouraging, and more and more physicians are opting for this treatment for their critically ill COVID-19 patients. 

Dr.Hari Bogabathina, MD, Board Certified Cardiologist and Interventional cardiology fellow, from Louisiana said, “The medical community worldwide is hard at work developing several investigational therapies. Convalescent plasma therapy was consistently successful in saving patients with favorable risk-benefit profile during prior epidemics like the Spanish Flu in 1918 and the SARS-CoV-1 (older cousin of SARS CoV-2 or COVID-19) in 2003.”

Dr. Bogabathina pointed out that convalescent plasma therapy has been successfully used in current critically ill COVID-19 patients in China and that this investigational therapy has been deployed in the US under FDA guidance. “Early therapy has been found to be beneficial from prior experience with SARS CoV-1. Critically ill COVID-19 patients cannot wait until approved therapies become available. Convalescent plasma therapy unlike several other therapies is available now, only if we can streamline and organize a steady stream of donors who are COVID-19 survivors among us,” he said.       

        

“We at Sewa International are using technology and human resources for troubleshooting regulatory and logistical bottlenecks. We are in a mission to help physicians and families of critically ill COVID-19 patients obtain convalescent plasma in a timely manner,” said Prof. Sree Sreenath.

ABOUT SEWA INTERNATIONAL

Sewa International (www.sewausa.org) is a 501(c)(3) Hindu faith-based charitable nonprofit that works in the areas of disaster recovery, education, and development. Sewa has 43 Chapters across the USA and serves regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability or national origin. The Sewa movement works with communities in need and is active in 22 countries, including USA, Canada, The Caribbean, India, and the UK.