St. Luke's doctor who survived COVID-19 donates plasma

A doctor who survived the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has donated her plasma to St. Luke's Medical Center (SLMC) in a bid to help other infected patients.

Dr. Jennifer Rodriguez, a cardiology fellow of the SLMC, contracted the disease mid-March after being exposed to a colleague who tested positive for the infection. After 10 days of battling the viral disease, she recovered.

Upon receiving her second negative COVID-19 test result, Rodriguez decided to donate her plasma for SLMC’s convalescent plasma program.

“If it could possibly help those who need, I’m very willing to donate,” Rodriguez said.

In a statement, SLMC said convalescent plasma infusion is “used to reduce the viral load of severe COVID-19 patients by passively giving them antibodies that developed in the blood plasma of the COVID-19 survivor.”

“The program was meant to treat the critical COVID-19 patients with transfusion therapy,” it added.

The SLMC is calling all healthy COVID-19 survivors to donate their plasma in order to treat some of the more dire cases in the hospital and increase recovery rate.

Interested donors may contact 8 789 7700 (local 2096).

The country has so far recorded a total of 9,223 cases of COVID-19, including 607 deaths and 1,214 recoveries. --Ma. Angelica Garcia/KBK, GMA News