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Challenges in Establishing a Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Convalescent Plasma Donation Program in a
Manuel Algora1,2,3,4, Tori Mehmood5, Debrina L Madison5
1From Pathology and Laboratory Institute (Algora), Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Insights
Establishing a COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) donation program faced challenges in a multicultural setting. Despite these hurdles, an effective CCP collection program was successfully implemented, yielding 90 units.
Area of Science:
- Infectious Diseases
- Transfusion Medicine
- Public Health
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated exploring novel treatment options.
- COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) transfusion was investigated for safety and efficacy.
- Establishing a CCP donation program presented unique challenges in diverse populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and implement a COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) donation program.
- To address practical limitations in recruiting eligible donors in a multicultural setting.
- To assess the feasibility of collecting CCP during the pandemic.
Main Methods:
- A CCP program was developed from March to June 2020.
- Donors were selected based on positive PCR tests and exclusion criteria (language, age, comorbidities).
- Challenges in donor recruitment included communication, scheduling, and transportation.
Main Results:
- Out of 3746 initial candidates, 267 were potentially eligible donors (54.7%).
- Recruitment efforts faced significant challenges, with only 38 valid donors participating.
- A total of 45 apheresis procedures were performed, collecting 90 units of CCP.
Conclusions:
- An effective CCP donation program was established despite recruitment and logistical challenges.
- The program successfully collected valuable CCP units during the pandemic's peak.
- This study highlights the feasibility of implementing such programs in diverse settings.
Context.—:
In the face of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic response, it was worthwhile to test the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) transfusion.
Objective.—:
To establish a CCP donation program based on the availability of recovered COVID-19 patients and the practical limitations in recruiting clinically valid donors in a multicultural setting.
Design.—:
From March to June 2020, we developed a program for collection of COVID-19 CCP as part of the treatment options for patients affected with COVID-19. From an initial population of 3746 candidates, only those with positive polymerase chain reaction results in at least 2 separate tests were considered. This filter reduced the eligible donor pool to 488 patients. After other exclusions were applied, such as language barrier, age, accessibility to donation, and comorbidities, the final count was 267 potentially eligible donors, which represented only 54.7% (267 of 488) of preselected candidates.
Results.—:
Eighty donors were called. Approximately a third of the calls provided additional challenges as outlined by the following 4 reasons: limited functional understanding of English; schedule availability due to rotating work timetables; transportation restrictions since public transport services were severely restricted during lockdown; and lost to follow-up. Finally, a total of 38 valid donors participated, upon whom 45 apheresis procedures were performed.
Conclusions.—:
As a summary of our experience, we can conclude that despite the limitations we were able to establish an effective program. A total of 90 units of CCP were collected before the pandemic curve began to flatten toward the end of June 2020.
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